They might have the largest fan base in the entire NBA, but the New York Knicks have not had any on-court success for as long as most of us can remember. It’s been 50 years since they last won an NBA championship and 24 years since they even reached the Finals.
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Forget the NBA Finals, they have not even won the second round of Playoffs since they last did it at the turn of the century. The James Dolan-owned team just can’t figure out a way to win even after having signed stars like Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, Jason Kidd, and Kristaps Porzingis over the years.
And as a result, they have been under the media’s consistent criticism over the years. Moreover, their fans’ relationship with the media has gone sour because of it. Former Nets star Richard Jefferson might have a solution for New Yorker’s betterment.
Richard Jefferson reveals why the Knicks have been failing to succeed
The 2016 NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers might have just figured out the reason why the Knicks suck while having some drinks on JJ Redick’s Old Man and The Three podcast.
Former New Jersey Nets forward went on a rant describing how the media has no ill will towards the Knicks or their fan base and in fact, they just want them to be a top team again.
And in that rant, he figured out why they haven’t been good all these years by pointing out their failure to sign a rookie extension for more than 24 years.
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“They just signed their first rookie extension since Charlie Ward. They hadn’t drafted a guy, and resigned him, for 25 f**king years,” said Jefferson, pointing towards the $107 Million/4-year extension that RJ Barrett signed last year.
Why do the fans in New York think Jefferson hates their team?
Jefferson has been trolling the Knicks for a long time. For instance, when he retired in 2017, on being asked why he made the decision when could still have been a solid role-player for a championship team, the former Nets man hysterically said that the Knicks were the only team interested in signing him, so he retired.
He has not held back while going at the Knicks or its fan base for being hostile to its own team. Recently he even had a back-and-forth with the fans in Madison Square Garden.
“Y’all hate y’all. Knicks fans hate the Knicks more than any player could hate the Knicks. So I don’t know what y’all keep blaming on us…I don’t care if they win or lose”
— Richard Jefferson ESPN pic.twitter.com/kkJ9zrexKz
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) March 16, 2023
The man is famous for trolling the Knicks when he gets the chance, which is why JJ presented him with the question. And Jefferson answered it the best way he can, giving a piece of solid advice for the New York team to be better at choosing and then re-signing their draft picks.