Knicks clinch seventh losing season in a row
Durant speaks out for weed, wants NBA to let players use it
PHILADELPHIA — If you’re not winning, you better sell hope and development.
And if you’re doing neither, you’re officially in NBA purgatory. Like the Knicks.
Leon Rose is inheriting a franchise with cap space and draft picks so the incoming presi- dent can pitch a plan for the sum- mer and beyond. But their current reality, as it pertains to another lost season with Mike Miller on the sideline, is grim.
The Knicks (17-42) still have 23 games remaining and it’s hard to determine where this is headed, or what’s the point. They’re still throwing out veterans in abundance, starting three players Thursday who could become free agents in the summer.
Their young players aren’t progressing, and sometimes aren’t playing. Thursday’s 115-106 defeat to the Sixers — a predictable outcome despite Philly missing its injured star duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid — clinched a sev- enth consecutive losing season for the Knicks. They had nine straight losing seasons in the 2000s. They’re currently riding a six-game losing streak, the longest of Miller’s tenure.
After the game, Miller focused on the team’s positive performance in the second half, when the Knicks outscored the Sixers by six points but collapsed in the final two minutes.
“The big thing that we’re looking at as a staff is how well we’re playing just collectively and what we’re doing. And so, I thought it was a good sign for us that we played as well as we did in the second half and weren’t worried about the score,” Miller said. “They went out, got some stops, and scored a little bit and were right back in the game.”
Still, Miller denied he was implying a moral victory. “Not at all.”
Frank Ntilikina (eighth pick in 2017) was inactive because of a sore groin. Dennis Smith Jr. (ninth pick in 2017) came off the bench, scored four points in seven minutes, and didn’t play the second half after suffering from concussion-like symptoms. Despite regular starting center Taj Gibson becoming a late scratch with back problems, Mitchell Robinson (2019 All-Rookie selection) didn’t get the start – instead coming off the bench behind Bobby Portis. Then there’s Kevin Knox. His tantalizing length and athleticism has not translated to success in the NBA, and the Knicks have placed his progress on the backburner. The ninth overall pick from 2018 contributed just one point in eight minutes on 0 for 3 shooting Thursday. For the season, Knox, 20, was averaging 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 18.3 minutes and one assist.
Knox didn’t have much of an opportunity as Moe Harkless, a free agent in the summer, took most of the minutes at small forward.
“Everyone is going to make mistakes,” Knox said. “Like I said, I was frustrated (Wednesday in Charlotte). I made a couple of mistakes I know I could have been better at. Just have to keep your head up, move onto the next play. It’s kind of what I’ve been working on, that next play mindset, just getting onto the next play after you make mistakes. A lot of players make mistakes, but you can’t sulk, you can’t hang your head, be frustrated at the time because you’ve got to move on.”
Sounds like the Knicks season. Got to move on.
WASHINGTON — For Kevin Durant, there is no downside to marijuana use.
So the Brooklyn Nets star, currently rehabbing from a torn Achilles and out for the season, is an advocate for the plant and its removal from the NBA’s banned substance list.
“It’s one of those plants that’s an acquired taste. If you love it, you love it. If you don’t, you’re not even going to be pick it up. It shouldn’t even be a discussion these days,” Durant said on a recent episode “All The Smoke” on Showtime. “It’s just like, marijuana is marijuana. It’s not harmful to anybody. It can only help and enhance and do good things. I feel like it shouldn’t even be a huge topic around it anymore.”
Durant’s stance on weed is not surprising considering last year he teamed up with a venture capital firm that specializes in cannabis. He and Snoop Dogg also backed a marijuana startup called, ‘Dutchie.’
Durant, 31, compared weed’s effects to legalized and non-stigmatized stimulants.
“Everybody on my team drinks coffee every day. Taking caffeine every day. Or guys go out to have wine after games or have a little drink here and there. Marijuana should be in that tone,” Durant said. “Why are we even talking about? It shouldn’t even be a conversation now. So hopefully we can get past that and the stigma around it and know that it does nothing but make people have a good time, make people hungry, bring people together — that plant brings us all together.”
Marijuana and its byproducts are among over 200 substances banned by the NBA. Most recently, Dion Waiters was suspended 10 games after ingesting a weed gummy and suffering a panic attack on the team plane.
MLB and the NHL are more progressive on this matter. Baseball removed cannabis from its banned substance list in December. The NHL doesn’t punish players who test positive.
The NBA randomly tests during the season and has suspended Thabo Sefolosha, Nerlens Noel, Larry Sanders and J.R. Smith, perhaps among others (specific drug for suspensions are not listed), in the last few years.
Although many former NBA players have acknowledged marijuana use, Durant’s advocacy is notable because he’s both active and a megastar.
“We start getting people out of jail for marijuana. That’s the next step,” Durant said. “And just keep going. But it’s a plant that’s put here for a reason, and that’s to bring us together. Hopefully it happens (removing marijuana from the banned substance list), especially in the NBA.”
The league and the players union seem open to discussing amendments to rules. But not everybody agrees with Durant. Charles Barkley, speaking to USA Today, said there should be limits to weed allowance.
“I’m not a pot guy. I’ve had pot like five times, and it just makes me want potato chips,” Barkley said. “But I got to be progressive. Listen, if you’re using pot to heal your body and things like that, I guess I can accept it. But I don’t want guys smoking pot just because they like smoking pot. I don’t think you can compare basketball to football. But I know it’s been helpful to my football friends... If you’re going to smoke weed or pot, it better be for the right reasons. Don’t just do it because you’re a druggie. I’m very sensitive to the subject. I had a brother who died young who was a junkie. Drugs are a real serious issue to me. But I have to be open-minded. If you’re going to use drugs for the right reasons, fine. But I don’t want to give people carte blanche to use.”