Did the New York Knicks and New York / New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets actually have real opportunities to build a rivalry throughout the years? Digging into the massive disparity in historic clout is one thing, but weighing the two teams’ closer-than-expected basketball products—(their all-time winning ratios are only apart by about five percent, for…
In this 10th episode of TBW’s Basketball by Association podcast, Arky Shea and Joel C. Cordes are joined by Bob Bajek to reminisce about their favorite paint patrollers of the 1990s. Inspired by Bob’s “The NBA I Grew Up Watching: When Centers Ruled the League”, they look back on why they loved (or hated) luminaries…
The NBA’s rapid evolution into a positionless game within the past five years has changed basketball forever. This development offers a more open floor and skillful game that showcases players’ otherworldly athleticism through off-the-ball movement, teamwide defensive switching concepts and by stretching defenses horizontally with long-range shooting way past the arc. Even with such positive…
When I look back at the teams that shaped my view of the NBA as a kid growing up in the 90s, the New York Knicks don’t necessarily feature at the top of the list. That’s rather ironic, given the sheer amount of time I have spent over the last two decades watching Knicks games. …
The NBA All-Star Game is returning to Chicago for the first time in 32 years. And while the Chicago Bulls probably won’t send any representatives this year, its franchise’s greatest player once used this venue to start changing his career’s narrative. Eventually, the United Center would become “The House that Jordan Built”, but he first…
Fans and local media consider the New York Knicks an iconic franchise, synonymous of what’s best about the NBA. For the last 20 years, they’ve talked (emptily) about reclaiming their rightful mantle. But, aside from some fuzzy memories, was the organization ever that great? Not really. The Knicks, 46 years and counting since their last…
For years, we’ve been hearing how the basketball world is catching up with the USA. But is it time to stop couching that in “future-tense” logic and ponder whether it’s happened, even at the highest levels? In 1992, the USA sent hoops pros to the Olympics for the first time, as the “Dream Team” captured…
