Again: sorry, I have a life.
Now I do agree with everyone else commenting on Amar'e leaving: that the guy really didn't do anything in New York. He was just another Jew in NYC with bad knees. The team that he started back in 2010 is completely gone, and all the hopes of finally bringing a championship that wasn't won in the disco era, to New York City are up in flames. We honestly didn't even come close. The 2012-2013 season was amazing yes, but once they could barely squeak by Boston in the first round of the playoffs it was obvious this wasn't THE team. And even so, I don't think Amar'e helped us win those 6 games in those playoffs. Did he even play? I don't remember.
Despite Amar'e's inability to play with Melo, his constant injuries and overall inconsistency, he still holds a special place in my heart. He really is the guy who made the Knicks relevant again. I did a good chunk of growing up in the 2000's, and after being spoiled with the amazing 90's Knicks teams as a child, the 2000's under basketball "genius" Isiah Thomas was a really depressing time. As I came into adolescence the basketball team that I had loved as a child fell into obscurity and actually became the laughing stock of the NBA. As I grew into loving the sport, I had to face the facts that my team was a literal joke. Watching those games either on TV or at the Garden was one of the saddest stretches of my sports-loving career. It was a basketball depression that affected the entire city, and boy could you feel it.
Then Donnie Walsh came in, and having no top-tier free agent left to sign, he took Amar'e. And wasn't the first half of that year great?! Amar'e, Wilson Chandler, Landry, Gallinari and skinny Felton were electrifying to watch, and although they had no pure superstar, they were going to make the playoffs and maybe not be the laughing stock of the league. Then Melo came, Amar'e got hurt, and the rest is history.
And although this team never quite panned out:
And although this current year is the worst in Knick's history, it still does not seem as bleak as it did pre-Amar'e. We've got Melo, we've got the Zen Master, and we have a lot of cap space. Bottom line: Amar'e's arrival did indeed bring the Knicks out of the dark ages.
bcase Editor's Note:
I wish more than anything I had the positive outlook of my colleague Treehorn. Amare energized the fanbase in way that I'll always remember, but the bottom line is that this experiment was a huge failure. Melo and Amare could never play together, that was clear about 5 games in, but we still tried forcing it with them two and that marshmallow-soft motherfucker Tyson Chandler. Amare was paid 100 MIL to play here and be the savior, pretty sweet gig. Knicks fans acting like he did this out of charity are driving me up the wall. I dunno, I'll always look back fondly at Amare's first 50 games, and that 2012-2013 team (Melo, STAT, Chandler, Kidd, Sheed JR, Shump, Copeland, Prigioni, Novak and the rest - what a ridiculous cast of characters) which ranks pretty high as one of the most fun to root for in my lifetime despite Chandler shitting down his fucking leg against the Pacers.Seriously, fuck that guy and the Mavs. Amare is going to Dallas and I couldn't hope for them to fail more. Whatever, at least we get to watch Langston Galloway for 35 more games right?
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