The Loop
Jeff Van Gundy low-key buried Kevin Durant in his response to Durant's comments about the Knicks not being 'cool'
Earlier this week, Kevin Durant grabbed a few headlines for comments he made in a radio interview about the New York Knicks. In the interview, which aired on "Ebro in the Morning Show" on Hot 97 FM, the two-time Finals MVP admitted he did consider the Knicks in free agency, but he "didn't really do any deep, full analysis" on them.
Durant then expanded on why he thinks the Knicks have had trouble landing guys like him in free agency, and his language was interesting, to say the least.
"They're trying. They're trying," Durant said. "It's hard to get the best players to play here. It's hard ... I think a lot of fans look at the Knicks as a brand and expect these younger players who, in their lifetime, don't remember the Knicks being good. I didn't grow up with the Knicks. I've seen the Knicks in the Finals, but kids coming up after me didn't see that. So that whole brand of the Knicks to them is not as cool as, let's say, the Golden State Warriors or even the Lakers or the Nets now.
"It's like the cool thing right now is not the Knicks," Durant added.
You're not going to believe this, but Knicks fans have not taken Durant's comments well, and by Knicks fans I mean people on Twitter, so take that as you will. As a Knicks fan myself, it obviously hurts, but I'd expect nothing less from Durant, who is so self-conscious that he spends endless amounts of time responding to people with 17 followers on social media. He's exactly the type of person who would worry about things like "being cool" when deciding which team to choose. I'm definitely not lashing out right now.
Luckily for the New York Knickerbocker faithful, our King stepped in to defend the franchise and everything that comes with playing for it on Wednesday. I am of course referring to Jeff Van Gundy, who coached the Knicks for six seasons before resigning from the position 19 games into year seven. Van Gundy, who has become the best NBA analyst in the game, was asked about Durant's comments on "SportsCenter," and he now has all of N.Y. ready to go to war with our potentially 30-win team this season (best-case scenario):
If that doesn't get you fired up as a long-suffering Knicks fan, I'm not sure what will. JVG gets it, and though it wasn't intentional, he kind of buried Durant with his "on Broadway is not for everyone" line. Judging by how thin-skinned Durant has proven to be, New York is not for him. And no, playing for the Brooklyn Nets doesn't count.
Yes, we know the Knicks stink and have the worst owner in all of sports, but if you think playing for them doesn't mean anything, you are sorely mistaken. Julius Randle knows:
So what if we traded away our unicorn, or we didn't get Zion, or every big-name player thinks we're a joke. We still have "THE GARDEN." We can always fall back on "THE GARDEN."