The Emergence of the 2021 New York Knicks

By Alec Stein ‘23

April 15, 2015 - the end of the worst season in Knicks’ franchise history. Three years since a playoff appearance and seemingly lightyears away from another playoff appearance.
On that final day of the season, the Knicks trotted out a lineup of Langston Galloway, Cole Aldrich, Tim Hardaway, Jason Smith and Lance Thomas, three of whom are currently out of the league, and the other two are bench players. Year after year, Knicks superfans such as Spike Lee and Tracy Morgan, along with thousands of Knicks fans across the globe, have been subject to suffering and hopelessness, but this year feels different.

Six years later, at the time of writing this article, the Knicks are the 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, on a nine-game winning streak, and are on the cusp of ending their playoff drought.
Of course, in true Knicks fashion, the team is finally finding success during the COVID-ridden 2020-21 season, where fans largely cannot be at the games to witness it. However, despite not having many fans at the game, there is still lots of excitement around this year’s Knicks team. Six years after that pathetic 2014-15 season, the Knicks are led by an All-Star in Julius Randle, rising young star RJ Barrett and several others who are on the same path. How did they get here?
On July 30, 2020, Tom Thibodeau was announced as the new Knicks head coach. The Knicks were coming off yet another poor season, one that many fans were glad to see be cut short by COVID-19. However, many fans were pleased that the team hired Thibodeau, who’s known for building teams that specialize in defense, energy, grit and fearlessness.
Thibodeau’s impact has immediately been felt. Last season, the Knicks were 23rd out of 30 in defensive rating in the NBA, as well as 17th in opponent field goal percentage. This year, they have jumped to third in defensive rating and first in opponent field goal percentage. This newfound elite defensive ability has been the catalyst for the team’s success so far this season.
Thibodeau is a coach who rarely smiles and is always yelling at his players to give their best effort, regardless of what the score is, and his coaching style has clearly paid off. The hiring of Thibodeau may be the single most influential factor in the Knicks’ success.
While Thibodeau has been an extremely positive influence for the Knicks this season, the emergence of power forward Randle is arguably the biggest factor in their success. Many Knicks fans hated watching Randle last year, and he even acknowledged that he played poorly last season in an article he wrote for The Players Tribune.
This year, Randle has increased his per game average in points, rebounds, assists, field goals and three-pointers, and generally plays much more intelligently. Coach Thibodeau has described him as “the engine of the team,” and he has led the way for all of the wins this season. He has found his niche as a scorer with his sharp mid-range shooting and also has found other ways to impact games like facilitating, perimeter shooting, and unselfishly distributing the ball to teammates. His transformation has been another major reason why the Knicks have gotten better.
In addition to a new coach and an emerging star, the Knicks have a tremendous supporting cast filled with young, promising players as well as good veteran role players. For starters, they have 2019 third pick RJ Barrett, who also increased his per-game averages in points, rebounds, assists, field goals and three-pointers, and has shown exponential growth as a player in many ways. They have rookie Immanuel Quickley, who is considered by many to be the steal of last year’s draft and has left fans in awe all season with his patented floater move and three-point shooting. They also have Mitchell Robinson, who is only 23 and has proven to be a reliable rim protector when healthy. In terms of veterans, they added Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks and Reggie Bullock last offseason, each of whom has been a valuable, inexpensive role player for the team.
Looking ahead to next year, the Knicks have the most projected salary cap room in the NBA, which gives them plenty of flexibility to trade for a star player or acquire one via free agency. They also will have two first-round draft picks this year as they hold the Mavericks’ pick this year from the Kristaps Porzingis trade in 2019.
Unlike previous years where the Knicks have had a lot of salary cap space, they should be able to attract star players to join their strong locker room culture that has been built by Thibideau. The team never fears or backs down to any opponent and always competes, even in games where they would appear to be overmatched on paper. The team’s chemistry is great, and the players get along well. Everyone is excited.
People call New York the mecca of basketball. There is a reason why Lebron James said that “the NBA is better when the Knicks are winning.” It is about time that basketball’s worldwide capital has a good team with a bright future representing it.