The Knicks could win the most awkward championship ever next month
We associate the Knicks winning a title with the Canyon of Heroes, but what if instead it’s the Canyon of Cringe?
When the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the first-ever NBA Cup champions last December, many fans were confused by the festivities that followed: a locker room champagne celebration, chaotic Instagram live streams, curious placements on players’ Wikipedia pages, even a banner at Crypto.Com Arena. As we near another December, the New York Knicks have the second-best odds (+600 at the time of this writing) to win the second NBA Cup. Which got me thinking – what would happen if they did? Would they repeat the same fanfare their West Coast rivals initiated last year? Ignore the Cup entirely? Something in-between?
This season the Knicks haven’t exactly been vocal supporters of the NBA Cup. Matter of fact, they haven’t even mentioned the NBA Cup – my bad, “the Emirates NBA Cup” – on any of their social media platforms at all this year. Their gameday graphics for Cup games don’t acknowledge the elevated stakes, there was no announcement for the bright orange court and @nyknicks treats each Cup game like any old regular-season contest. Based on my armchair tracking, the Knicks are the only team in the league without a single tweet or post directly mentioning the term “NBA Cup” this season. Now why would they do that? *brian_windhorst.gif*
I have a couple theories.
The first, and most likely, is a sponsorship conflict. The Knicks have a massive and longstanding deal with Delta, a direct competitor of Emirates Airways, the Cup’s biggest sponsor. That deal likely precludes the Knicks from publicly mentioning Emirates; I doubt Delta would be thrilled with them inadvertently parading a rival across their digital media. The Knicks also have a new deal with Experience Abu Dhabi; while this connection isn’t as obvious, Abu Dhabi’s tourism program has a strong relationship with Etihad Airways, another competitor of Emirates.
More possible evidence for this theory: the Knick website’s season schedule indicates which games are Cup games without mentioning Emirates. It refers to them as “NBA Cup” or “Cup Nights.” Kenny Albert & Clyde Frazier called it “The NBA Cup” on MSGN’s Knicks/Nets broadcast two weeks ago.
My second theory relates to James Dolan’s longstanding beef with Adam Silver and the rest of the owners over rising league expenses and declining revenue for big-market teams. Dolan has made it very clear the NBA Cup, the G League and the WNBA aren’t yet profitable, meaning their proposed revenue-sharing model is financially damaging to teams like the Knicks. Last summer Dolan was the lone governor to vote “no” on the NBA’s new media rights deal, later relaying his grievances via letter to the other owners.
"The NBA has made the move to an NFL model -- deemphasizing and depowering the local market," he wrote. "Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year's jersey will be. Don't worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure. Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal."
It’s possible Dolan is so pissed he’s instructed the Knicks’ marketing team to act like the NBA Cup doesn’t exist, out of spite for Silver. The flaw with this theory is that the Knicks were very vocal about last season’s Cup, née the “In-Season Tournament,” producing videos explaining its structure, making a big deal over the new court and frequently recognizing the extra stakes during last year’s games.
Something must’ve changed over the summer, or it’s theory #1, a combination of both or something else I’m totally missing. Regardless of the reason, it’s pretty odd that the Knicks have refused to respect the Cup this season, and it makes the possibility of them winning even more hysterical.
Before we get there, I’d be floored if the Knicks decided to give the Cup its first mention during their upcoming group stage games against Charlotte and Orlando. If they haven’t done it for the first two, they won’t for the next two. The knockout rounds scheduled for December 10th or 11th is where things could get interesting. These games count towards each team’s 82-game record, so the Knicks will have to acknowledge them in some fashion.
Last year when the Knicks played their knockout game in Milwaukee, there was no formal announcement of the game on their socials, though it was featured in their weekly calendar post along with a gameday graphic that morning and standard game coverage to follow. I’d expect something similar for knockout-round games this year, and perhaps a standalone post announcing tickets for the game if it’s at MSG.
Things get hairy if the Knicks clinch a trip to the Cup semifinals in Las Vegas. Those games count towards their regular-season record, same as knockout games, so I’d expect a similar coverage. Most teams will make an elevated graphic or two announcing their trip to Vegas, but I predict the Knicks will skip the pomp and treat the semifinal similarly to the knockout stage. But what if they win and advance to the Cup Championship, which doesn’t count towards their 82-game record?
In that case, the Knicks would have no choice but to acknowledge the Cup. They do have an out to avoid a sponsorship conflict: call it the “NBA Cup” without mentioning Emirates. Other teams have done that this season, and I don’t think the league has a mandate for teams to acknowledge Emirates. It gets tricky on the visual side, though.
The NBA Cup’s logo features the Emirates logo very prominently, so I don’t expect the Knicks to use it on any graphics. There’s no version of the logo that doesn’t feature Emirates, so look for the words “NBA Cup” in one of the Knicks’ frequently-used fonts instead. And what if they win? Does Mr. Dolan walk down to center court, shake Silver’s hand and hoist the Cup trophy high above his head? It’s possible!
I think the Knicks play it cool as can be. They’ll start with some sort of graphic announcing the win – it won’t be the Mona Lisa (save that for the Finals!) and definitely won’t feature Emirates, but it will show off a bunch of the players and be re-shared on everyone’s stories.
The NBA will promptly release a merch line celebrating the Knicks as champs, and quickly hand hats and tees to the players to wear for the on-court celebration. Those pieces will definitely feature Emirates, so I’d be shocked if the Knicks shared any footage of their players wearing it. If they do, they might go as far as scrubbing the Emirates logo out, like they did last summer for some competing ads at Yankee Stadium when Josh Hart threw out the first pitch.
There will probably be a trunk of champagne and a basket full of goggles waiting for the players in the locker room, but I don’t think the Knicks would post much of that footage, for the same reason as the merch line. We should get to see plenty on @NBA, though. Reporters will race to ask Thibs how it feels to be the first coach in Knicks history to win an NBA Cup. My crystal ball tells me Thibs will be as nonchalant as possible and tell them he’s focused on the upcoming game in Minnesota.
I’ll go out on a limb and say the Knicks definitely won’t hang an NBA Cup banner at MSG. Partially because of the Emirates thing, but more so because it’d be an elite way to troll the Lakers.