The “championship or bust” mentality that many teams and their loyal fanbases often possess is seen as honorable, accountable, and frankly, the only way of operating in a world where one of 30-32 teams will actually satisfy that lofty standard.
The 2023-24 Knicks didn’t enter the season with such expectations. Coming off a year in which they won a playoff series for the first time in 10 years, many were hoping for another year of foundation building, another year of competitive playoff games, and a reason to believe that legitimate title contention was on the horizon.
Expectations often change as seasons wear on, and with the Knicks, a run (or a limp) to the second seed in the East didn’t just capture the hearts of New Yorkers like it was 1994. It raised the bar to where some wondered if this gritty, throwback, resilient, and most importantly, good team could reach an Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2000, or even an NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Neither of those possibilities became reality, as the Knicks (or what remained of them), fell in game seven at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, squandering a 2-0 and 3-2 series lead to bow out in the conference semis for the second year in a row.
For many, the loss meant lamenting an opportunity squandered, or a failure to live up to expectations. Ultimately, it meant the season could not be looked at as a roaring success.
Nonsense.
To not remember the 2023-24 Knicks for the reasons that the city fell in love with them would mean sucking the joy out of what makes sports fandom great in the first place. Sure, the ultimate goal is watching your team hoist a trophy and eventually parade down the Canyon of Heroes, but it is just as much about building an emotional investment in a group you can identify with, admire, and ultimately, root like hell for. Few teams left a mark on me the way this Knicks group did, regardless of where their road ended.
Sure, there is disappointment in not closing out the Pacers after running away with game five, or thoughts of what could have been had the team not been decimated by injuries in a way that would make the 2019 Yankees look indestructible. But conquering those emotions are ones of gratitude for a team that earned the nightly emotional investment of myself and countless others. Too many moments to count where I found myself leaping off my couch in celebration after a Josh Hart dagger against the Sixers, or another miraculous Jalen Brunson finish in the paint. Too many times where a group dug in for a big defensive stop down the stretch while logging maybe seconds of rest the entire game. Should coming up short create a future where any memories of these Knicks are accompanied by disappointment? That would do a disservice to what this team was all about. They battled through every key injury and embraced every part of the city and its fans along the way. They deserve to be remembered with nothing but fondness.
The goal is to win a championship. Absolutely. But as Tom Thibodeau said after game seven, 29 teams aren’t going to accomplish that goal. That’s why title seasons should be cherished forever, because it’s really, really hard to do. But some of those other 29 teams deserve their own celebration. These Knicks are more than deserving. I look forward to falling down YouTube wormholes in the coming years, reliving the several big moments of this playoff run, like game two against the Sixers, smiling at the memory of where I was when it happened, the friends I texted immediately after, or whose jersey I wore with pride the next day. I’m not going to rob myself of that pleasure just because the Knicks couldn’t get back to a conference final.
I still fall down similar YouTube wormholes when it comes to the 2017 Yankees, or the 2011-12 Devils. Just like Mets fans should with the 2015 squad. No, those teams didn’t win it all, but they’re still among my favorite teams of my lifetime, because of who they were and the ride they took us on, not just were they finished. This Knicks team is firmly among that list as well. If it all hung on winning it all, sports fandom would be a dark place, because that’s an incredibly rare achievement. So I’ll choose to enjoy what we just witnessed, and be thankful that it happened.