“Hell yeah,” Lee said, predicting a playoff exit before his team could even make it to the finals. “Third round, we get bumped. Second round, that’s it.” (The Knicks lost by six points on Tuesday.)
“See what’s going on with football on the Giants, man.”
A few short months ago, New York transformed. There were makeshift projector screens all across the city, and fire escapes teemed with fans hanging on each play. As The City Reporter reported on Tuesday, a “Jalen” baby name boom is underway in homage to the Knicks’ leader (and recent Saturday Night Live host) Jalen Brunson.
But as sudden as the ascent was, the mood going into the new season has by some measures already soured. In a fast-moving league and city, there were new storylines to follow—LeBron James was in town for his first game as a Philadelphia 76er. The average ticket price for opening night, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, skyrocketed to $1,894, the highest ever for a regular-season NBA game, a sore spot after an outcry last season over longtime fans being priced out of the playoffs. Most of all, much-maligned Knicks owner James Dolan has resumed his media and fan punching-bag status after a passing period of goodwill yielded to contract disputes with key players.
Outside the arena on Tuesday, the crowd thrummed with anticipation. Off to the side, Meekie “Meek” Young, the proprietor of a mobile New York barber shop, had set up a table of hats bearing the Knicks’ name transliterated into Hindi, Arabic, Spanish, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Chinese. “I am showing everybody the fabric of New York,” she said. Young saw the stakes of maintaining last year’s atmosphere as high: “A lot of people are lonely and this will allow people to find community.”
“This some AI shit,” one passerby remarked as she passed a Kalshi-branded robot swarmed by content creators. The prediction market has made a significant push into professional sports, and Kalshi mics became a staple of the MSG scene. (“My mayor is Muslim, my bagel is Jewish, my Christian is Dior, Knicks in four,” was uttered into one.) There was now a Kalshi Concourse in the arena, and outside, a content creator wearing a Kalshi tee led a prayer circle before tip-off on Tuesday.
“You just pray with positivity and go step by step,” Tubbycfa, who identified himself by his Instagram handle, said afterwards. “We’re defending champions, everybody can come after us as hard as they can. And guess what? Don’t matter.”
Complaining about New York is one of the great New York traditions, and a pessimistic view may already be taking shape in the eyes of the most cynical fans: a series of Dolan-connected mishaps and a fan atmosphere increasingly dominated by absurd ticket prices alongside inescapable gambling, crypto, and prediction market branding. Like so many bleeding-edge New York bars and restaurants, this one could always fall away as soon as it was beloved enough to be missed.
Still, as one observer walked past the raucous prayer circle, she noted one aspect of the Knicks experience that could never be taken.
“They don’t do this in Philly.”