Back in 2019, Michael Rapaport declared that he had seen enough with the Knicks, and was no longer a fan.
"I'm no longer a Knicks fan and you shouldn't be either," Rapaport's Twitter caption read along with a video of himself ranting and taking off a Knicks hat, denouncing his fandom from a team he grew up worshipping.
Now, as the Knicks have seemingly turned a corner under Tom Thibodeau, Rapaport is back.
"I'm a Knicks fan," the actor and director told Carton and Roberts on Monday.
As for those who say Rapaport should not be welcomed back into Knicks fandom, which considers itself among the most loyal in all of basketball, Rapaport doesn't want to hear it.
"As a Knicks fan, even when I denounced the Knicks, I'm a Knicks fan," Rapaport said. "I'm an Emmy award-winning director for directing a 30 for 30 called 'When the Garden Was Eden.' I grew up in New York City, I was here with Patrick Ewing, I was here with Earl the Pearl…I can go and come as I want."
Others disagree, and urge the former Knicks superfan to stay with the Nets, New York's crosstown foe. Rapaport doesn't want to hear about any sports fan gatekeeping rules, especially when the Knicks continue to be run by the same owner that has overseen years of turbulence, with last year being a welcomed reprieve from the previous norm.
"When James Dolan is running the Knicks, I'm entitled to do what I want," Rapaport said. "Because when you disrespect the fans and you disrespect Charles Oakley, then my allegiance is breached because you've breached my allegiance for 20 years."
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So, if Rapaport is tweeting in support of the Knicks and any fan wants to respond by challenging Rapaport's right to root for New York, he doesn't want to hear it.
"I encourage any Knicks fan, after what we've been through, when the owner isn't being loyal to the fans, we don't need to be loyal to them," Rapaport said. "Nonetheless, you can't change what you are. I'm a Knicks fan…when I denounced the Knicks, I didn't say I want to see them do bad. Am I bandwagoning? We lost in the first round last year, we'll be lucky if we make it to the second round last year…so these lunatics on Twitter, who live in their mother's basement, who think they have the keys to The Garden, they can kiss my keys to The Garden."
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