The New York Knicks have emerged as the top Eastern Conference favorite with strong goals of making the NBA Finals and competing for an NBA Championship. An impressive performance in the NBA Cup games saw the Knicks defeating the San Antonio Spurs as the third team to take home that trophy.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers have hung banners in their home venues to celebrate the big victories, but the Knicks made headlines by refusing to do the same. Knicks owner James Dolan shared his reasoning during a recent interview on WFAN Radio:
“We are going to raise the banner. We’re going to raise the NBA championship banner. That’s the banner we want to raise. We want an NBA championship; we don’t want some consolation prize.
I was very proud of the guys. They did a great job and we’re proud to have the Emirates Cup, but we’re going to hang a championship banner, a real banner.”
Dolan shared the same sentiment as many Knicks fans feel about the banner. Both sides have valid points, but New York sports fans make their opinions heard louder. The banners getting raised creates an unfair scenario of it being next to NBA Championship or NBA Finals banners to taint the credibility.
Dolan Doubles Down On Knicks Confidence
The most interesting thing about Dolan discussing his thoughts on the NBA Cup banner is that he expresses confidence in the Knicks winning more this season. Dolan shifted his thoughts to the Knicks having expectations to make the NBA Finals this summer and win an NBA Championship this or in the upcoming seasons.
“I’d say we want to get to the Finals and we should win the Finals,” Dolan said in the same interview . “This is sports, anything can happen. Getting to the Finals, we absolutely have to do. Winning the Finals, we should do.”
New York currently has the third best odds to win the NBA Championship behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets . However, the Knicks remain a favorite in the Eastern Conference to make the finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics are distantly behind New York in odds as their biggest threats.
Knicks Set New Precedent For Cup
The Lakers and Bucks made many NBA fans believe that all teams would have banners for winning the NBA Cup. NBA broadcaster and retired legend Reggie Miller claimed that he believes the league talked the Lakers into doing it since the Commissioner wants the NBA Cup to feel like an important prize.
However, no real prize beyond that night to impact the overall season makes it harder to celebrate in the same context as playoff accolades or retired jerseys in the rafters. The Lakers raising a banner for it next to their iconic history of all-time great player jerseys and seventeen NBA Titles makes it stand out negatively.
Other teams may follow the Knicks lead and refuse to hang the banner next to their greatest moments. The league also might need to start thinking about adding a playoff seeding related incentive or anything that impacts the rest of the season to make the NBA Cup feel more important to teams and fans.
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