Cross-city rivalries are few and far between in the NBA, with only LA and New York boasting two teams. On the West Coast, Clippers have always been in the Lakers’ shadow, and on the East Coast, it’s the Knicks who reign supreme over their recent neighbors. The reason for Knicks being the most beloved team in New York lies in Brooklyn Nets history.
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They started off in the ABA as the New Jersey Americans in 1967 but moved to the Burroughs the next year and became the Nets. They moved back to New Jersey in 1977 and stayed there until 2012.
Naturally, their almost 35-year absence from the city allowed their city rivals to dig deep and build a loyal fan base. But D’Angelo Russell, while talking to NY’s newest star Karl-Anthony Towns chose to discard that complicated history and declared the Knicks the ‘little brother’ in NYC.
Russell, on his ‘BackYard Podcast,’ congratulated KAT on his All-Star selection. He acknowledged there was no better feeling than getting an All-Star selection while playing for one of the 2 New York-based teams and said that it came with added pressure to win.
However, he couldn’t resist a cheeky jab at the Nets’ most bitter rivals and joked, “You on the little brother team, so like you’ll see when you on the big brother team winning in New York?”
D’Angelo Russell told KAT that the Knicks are the “little brother” 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/FXCTkXxVAQ
— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) February 23, 2025
While it’s true that the Knicks are a more decorated franchise, the Nets have had multiple great seasons too.
The Nets have had some brilliant stars including Vince Carter and Jason Kidd. The problem was, they played in New Jersey and were not really sharing the city with the Knicks.
The script flipped in favor of the Nets again in 2019 though after they were able to bring in the trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. The star power helped the team gain a lot more young followers.
While we all know how the Nets’ Big 3 experiment ended, it seems that the 2020s have seen the restoration of “order” in NYC. The Knicks are a top destination, are 3rd in the East, and for the first time in a very, very long time, have legitimate title hopes.
The Nets are a bottom-dwelling team, hoping to secure a high lottery pick in next year’s draft, to try and start a rebuild. It doesn’t look like the scales will tip toward the Brooklyn side anytime in the next decade.
