Before we fall into the trad rhythm of another season, let’s let our fan freak flags fly

Despite what the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have you believe, the concept of the multiverse did not begin with them – for what were 13 Going on 30 or The Wizard of Oz, if not answers to the question “what if?” Nor is “what if?” a product of the cinema;  for all of human history, children, parents who’ve wished for children and parents who’ve wished to be rid of theirs have imagined alternate lives. A pair of sliding doors or butterfly wings are all that divide this reality from some bizarro knock-off version. The same is true of basketball.

My father grew up in Spanish Harlem. His sporting interests were parochial: Knicks, Rangers, Mets, Jets (this is back when the Jets were really quite good, and not yet “the Jets”). Despite growing up in the shadow of Nassau Coliseum as the Islanders were winning four straight Stanley Cups, I, predictably, liked the same teams he did, adding St. John’s and the Giants for good measure. I identified something spiritual with each franchise that clicked with me. I wasn’t just a fan, I was blessed. I was a child, and it was a different time; over a 10-year span those teams won four championships, the Johnnies reached the Final Four and even the Jets were great for a few years. All was well.

Since 1994, the Giants won another couple Super Bowls and . . . that was that. The Mets have as many World Series games won since then as they do World Series Game 1 ninth inning blown saves (2). The Rangers are back to an annual tease. The Knicks – you know what that’s been about. I gave up watching football years ago, a choice the Jets and Giants validate week after week after month after year. Thank God I found Manchester City later in life.

I can’t imagine being someone from Philadelphia or Boston. I mean, I do get it, the same way I grasp that some people are born sociopaths – knowing it happens is as close as I care to get to it. But what if I hadn’t been born in the NYC metropolitan area to a man whose teams won legendary titles (the 1969 Miracle Mets; “Here comes Willis! And the crowd is going wild!”; “The Jets will win Sunday. I guarantee it”)? Who would I have been drawn to? Specifically, what NBA team would I have liked if the Knicks never existed? 

It’s a question I put to various Strickland personnel. Here, then: a glimpse into a world of what-ifs.  

Sam: It would probably be the Golden State Warriors. Before I had cable TV growing up and only had access to local channels, my weekends would be filled with watching whatever sports graced my local channels. I used to watch college basketball heavily in the late 2000s into the early 2010s. One of the few players that stuck out to me was the scrawny baby-faced assassin from Davidson. I used to be so enamored with how someone could shoot a basketball like that. 

Given that I used to watch more football during that time, Steph Curry and whatever NBA/Knicks games I could get my eyes onto were my most profound introduction to basketball to date. My parents also loved Steph, so that made it easy to root for him. Ever since I’ve been a fan of his. If it weren’t for the Knicks, I’d probably be doing Warriors content right now. Shout-out to finally getting cable around 2010-11 and discovering the holy land known as MSG Network!  

Zach B: I’m picking the Brooklyn Nets, and not just because they have a clean slate of draft picks and are perfectly set up for a rebuild over the next few years. That’s part of it, but it’s really because the Nets have some of my favorite digital content in all of sports. The Nets’ design team has built out one of the strongest visual identities in the league and served as a source of inspiration for me throughout my career. Their short-form content is fine-tuned for a Gen-Z audience, and they pair all of their media with witty, in-tune copywriting that reflects Brooklyn culture. The Nets also frequently tap into their fanbase’s independent content scene, showcasing the work of lesser-known creators to their broader audience. The Nets have set the standard for what team-official content should look like in 2024, and it’d be fun to watch their franchise turn around after decades of misery. I also live a few subway stops from Barclays Center, so that helps. 

@_prezidente: I’ve been in D.C. for 10+ years, so probably the Washington Wizards. But if this hypothetical began before that, I would have probably went for the Spurs because Manu Ginóbili is/was my favorite player of all-time during the formative period when my hoop fandom went from casual to obsessive: the early 2000s, right when the Knicks began to stink, hilariously enough.

@Kon_stantine: Nets or Warriors. My dad and I have always been NY-only fans, sports-wise, so it feels only natural that I would have become a Nets fan. I unironically like a lot of guys who have played for them, past and present, and while the hate-watching has been fun I do hope the Nets manage to figure their shit out soon. For the Warriors, Steph, Klay and Draymond (especially Draymond) have been three of my favorite players since I started watching basketball, and they’ve always been a team I’ve rooted for. Draymond has been my favorite player for a long time now, so I definitely think I would have gravitated to Golden State eventually. 

Komrade: I’m confident I would have found my way into the Oklahoma City Thunder fandom. (Reminder, I’m one of the younger guys here at 28.) (Ed. note: Zach is so young he doesn’t remember Obama; he’s literally 12) I can’t remember the exact year I started watching basketball, but it was between the tail end of Carmelo Anthony’s tenure with the Denver Nuggets and his beginnings in the Big Apple. Around that time the Thunder would have been building and competing with the James Harden/Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook trio. And the departure of Durant would have cemented my fandom there, akin to the end of the Anthony era in New York — I get excited for new beginnings. I was heavily tapped into Russ’ solo revenge tour post-KD. That was fun hoops. Don’t listen to the haters. I’m also increasingly partial to their colorway and uniforms throughout the Durant/Westbrook and post-Durant era.

Miranda: My choice would have been one or other end of the extreme. Around the time I started following the Knicks, I taped a Sunday afternoon game between the Bulls and the Pistons because I knew that was the hot rivalry, and I wanted to see Michael Jordan dunk, so I might have been one of the basic bitches who became an MJ fan and therefore a Bulls fan — I probably would have liked Phil Jackson’s schtick back then, before I’d met college hippies. I also have a very weird Scottie Pippen deal, wherein he was easily the player I hated the most in the ‘90s, even more than Reggie Miller, but if Pippen had been a Knick he would have easily, easily been my favorite Knick. The athleticism, the way he looked gliding to the rim, the hangtime, the dunks, enveloping would-be scorers like a 6-foot-8 Venus fly trap . . . sigh. I’m not proud of it, but I was but a child. Thank God I didn’t choose that path, because for all of their glories in the ‘90s I’d rather not have inherited *waves at Bulls’ entire 21st century*.

I might also have chosen the Nets – the New Jersey Nets, an entirely different proposition than the Bruce Ratner/Mikhail Prokhorov/Celtic retirement home Nets who gentrified their way into town. I’m talking the Meadowlands crew, the Nets of Benoit Benjamin, Chris Morris, Tate George and Terry Mills. When those Nets acquired the greatest pre-Steph shooter ever, Drazen Petrović, then drafted Kenny Anderson, my high school basketball crush, I probably would have planted my flag in their soil. And who knows where it might have gone? After all, the momentChuck Daly’s ascendant Nets’ dreams came to a literal crashing halt came courtesy of the Knicks, specifically one John Levell Starks.

So you’ve heard our confessions. How about yours? Who might you have been a fan of if the Knicks weren’t an option?