Celtics-Nets Game 2 Proves That The Knicks are Brooklyn’s Big Brothers
The Facts
The Brooklyn Nets are the most talented team in basketball, period. They have three of the top 15 players in the league and a solid supporting cast that could lead them to a title. However, they always have been and always will be the little brother to the Knicks in New York.
There are three guarantees in life: Death, taxes, and the Knicks being more important than the Nets in New York. Celtics-Nets Game 2 was a great example of this disparity, as the Barclays Center played host to the Celtics in a contest with the atmosphere of a middle school AAU tournament. The Nets are one of the best meshes of talent in the league, but they nevertheless are forced to beg fans to come to their games, even after James Harden offered to pay half the cost on all the tickets for the first two games of the series.
Nets games have been notoriously quiet in previous years, even with a full arena and these playoff games have not been any different, as seen in this highlight of Kevin Durant blocking Romeo Langford.
In all fairness, Brooklyn were up 27 points before the fourth quarter began, but the team’s lead does not excuse such a lackluster reaction. The noise in the arena also takes on an artificial sound, although I am unsure if Barclays is actually pumping in noise or not. Regardless, compare it to the sound at Madison Square Garden, and you should understand why MSG is considered the Mecca of basketball.
Why The Stark Difference?
When one thinks of New York, one thinks of passionate sports fans, but the Nets are an exception to this rule, as they abandoned much of their fanbase when they moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012. Many Nets fans felt betrayed by the team’s move, myself among them.
I grew up rooting for the Nets as a kid (much to my father’s dismay) because one of my grandpas brought me to numerous games every year and, as a New Jersey resident, the commute was much easier, but being a Nets fan at that time was almost as hard as my time as a Knicks fan has been thus far. My allegiance gradually shifted towards the Knicks, and while the past 10 years have undeniably been a struggle, I do not regret any of them. Nets fans are outnumbered by Knicks fans, and the Nets will play second fiddle to the Knicks as long as they stay in Brooklyn.
