In New York City, fans of local professional sports have always had plenty of options, With two franchises in each of the major team sports, there are increased odds, at least in theory, that a competitive team will emerge from so many entries. So here we are in late September 2021 and with the baseball season entering its final week, the Yankees are once again battling for a wildcard playoff spot while the Mets are finalizing a late-summer swoon that will end their season without a playoff berth. And as was the case in 2020, from a playoff contention standpoint the local 2021 NFL season appears to be over before the calendar strikes October, with the Jets and Giants losing their first three games amidst slim hopes of improving due to a talent shortage and strength of schedule, respectively, for each team. As a result, in New York City, the 2021-22 NBA season can’t start soon enough.
OPTIMISM FOR BOTH NEW YORK CITY NBA BASKETBALL TEAMS
The New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets have shared an NBA stage for 45 years, but seldom have they been good at the same time. The 2020-21 NBA campaign was unique in that both teams were competitive. The Nets finished the regular season with the Eastern Conference’s second-best record while the Knicks confounded most experts by riding a defensive mentality to a fourth-place finish before losing in the first round of the playoffs. With the core of the rosters returning for both teams, the NBA’s 2021-22 season brings optimism in the New York City area for basketball fans.
THERE ARE OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME
The Nets, considered strong favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2021 NBA Finals, battled injuries to key players throughout the season and the trend continued into the postseason. Despite the missing man-hours, the Nets still managed to come within a Kevin Durant toenail of winning Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against eventual league champion Milwaukee Bucks in regulation time before losing in overtime. Despite being counted amongst the top contenders for the league crown, the Nets will have those same injury concerns for the upcoming season. That possibility, along with a leaky defense will make the Nets vulnerable over the course of a normal marathon season of 82 games the league will return to after playing 72 last season. The Nets added some veteran frontcourt help in LaMarcus Aldridge and Paul Millsap but will miss Jeff Green’s perimeter shooting and solid play and leadership on both ends. Veteran Patty Mills will help the backcourt depth.
The Knicks’ Julius Randle, awarded with a contract extension following a career year, returns after a disappointing playoff series against Atlanta. RJ Barrett is now in his third year, where most young players are expected to break out if it happens at all. The 2020-21 Knicks saw most of their court time go to veterans on one-year deals playing for longer-term commitments from the Knicks or elsewhere. Now that several players have those deals in hand, the Knicks are hopeful they’ll match their defensive intensity from last season. The Knicks whiffed on their primary free-agent targets but signed the more offensive-minded backcourt–Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier–from the 2020-21 Boston Celtics. They might eventually miss the perimeter defense and shooting of another one of those veterans, Reggie Bullock, who signed a free-agent deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Though not considered title contenders, anything less than a postseason appearance would be a backslide for the Knicks.
THEN WE’LL LOOK FORWARD TO BASEBALL AND FOOTBALL SEASON
It’s just the continuation of a cycle. We anticipate the return of a particular sport, and at some point, we are ready for that season to end and another sport to begin, especially if our favorite teams are non-competitive. Given the length of the seasons, this is expected, especially for baseball, basketball, and hockey. This seems like a return to normalcy because the pandemic had most of the sports playing outside their usual calendar slots. In 2020 we went from no sports at all to several running at the same time, and there were no fans in the buildings.
As a New Yorker watching both local football teams lose yet again in front of 75,000 fans with little hope for improvement, the 2021-22 NBA season can’t start soon enough. Surely we’ll get frustrated at some point by the injuries, load management, etc., but we’re hoping that our thirst for the start of other sports’ campaigns will be delayed by deep playoff runs for our favorite local NBA team.
Photo by Jorge Gardner on Unsplash
