Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. That is unless you’re the New York Knicks. Then you find a way to lose all the time. Name the last time the Knicks landed a star free agent? Amare Stoudemire doesn’t count. Well, the Knicks actually almost landed Kemba Walker. He even said so himself.
Recently on The Ringer podcast R2C2 hosted by Ryan Ruoco and CC Sabathia, Kemba admitted he was really close to signing with the Knicks.
Side note: Not the best name for a podcast. C’mon guys… do better.
“Yes. Very serious. Very,” he told The Ringer pod. “Before Boston came along the Knicks were one of my top priorities because I was thinking they were going to get another player. But it didn’t work out.”
The funniest part is CC Sabathia told Kemba that he made the right choice. The same CC that literally hates Boston to his core. Of course, classic Knicks, they couldn’t get Kemba another sidekick. Instead, the Knicks landing players like Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Elfrid Payton, and Wayne Ellington. God only knows why they blew their cap space on those players but it’s the Knicks.
CC Sabathia really did hit the nail on the head. Players want to play in New York. They want to play for the Knicks. They just don’t want to play for James Dolan. There’s nothing really more to say.
It did seem pretty clear that once the Celtics were going to lose Kyrie Irving, that Kemba Walker was coming to Boston. I know I’m a bit of a homer but can you blame the guy? Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart? Walker never had a team even close to that in Charlotte. Leaving for the Knicks would have been like Charlotte except a more historic arena.
