But will B’klyn fans come?
ends of the floor and is primed to finally reap the spoils of its labor.
It’s certainly a big enough market for both teams, and the Nets didn’t come all this way for nothing.
They’ve already tried the wrong way, mortgaging the future for a short-lived Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett era that never made it past the second round of the playoffs. They ate dirt, spending years at the bottom of the standings without their own draft picks. Then Brooklyn built some steam, developed their young players, traded for D’Angelo Russell and became a playoff team last season. In turn, the fans are responding: The Nets’ revenue of $84 million in 2013 has nearly quadrupled to $294 million in 2019, according to Forbes.
That revenue now projects to skyrocket even more now that Irving and Durant are in town, attracting a flock of new fans ready for exciting, winning basketball to return to New York City. But that doesn’t mean Knicks fans are set to abandon ship just yet.
The orange and blue run deep in New York, and fandom has been strong despite two franchise-worst 1765 seasons in the past five years. The Knicks haven’t been relevant on the court since their last playoff appearance in 2015 and since then, a dark cloud has hovered above The Garden.
Things appear to be back on track, however. And the Knicks have started to follow Brooklyn’s three-pronged blueprint: develop young players, improve into a playoff team, then sell the culture and market to big-name free agents.
That will all take time for the Knicks to see out, though. Brooklyn’s time, on the other hand, is right now.
For at least the next two years, the Nets deserve to be the team to watch in the five boroughs, because they were patient with their plan and executed masterfully.
But the Knicks’ plan is underway, whether you like what they’ve done in free agency or not. And the best thing — be it for ratings, ticket sales or overall level of excitement — is having two teams competing in the playoffs, both in the same city. Need proof? You’ll watch every match-up between the Clippers and Lakers this season, especially when there’s a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
So Levy is right: New York basketball fans are up for grabs.