Once the former New Jersey Nets “big three” were broken up with the departure of Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson in ’07-’08 and then Vince Carter in 08-09, fans knew that the rebuilding process would take time and they would have to deal with a few years of not the most exciting basketball.  Meanwhile across the Hudson River, the opposite was happening and in ’09-’10, the Knicks were coming out of the Dark Ages of a decade of awful, awful basketball with the acquisitions of Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. Knicks’ fans knew that after all the years of success in the playoffs by the Nets, it was on the horizon that the Knicks would be a better team in the New York/New Jersey area.  Going into the ’12-’13 season, both teams have completed their rebuilding process (Nets acquired Deron Williams a year and a half ago and Joe Johnson this year) and both are playoff bound.  A new rivalry is going to be born between two cities that are no longer connected by the George Washington Bridge, but by the Brooklyn Bridge, not separated by the Hudson River, but by the East River, not 13 miles away, but a mere 6 miles away.  Will New York Knicks fans find A Tree that Grows in Brooklyn?

I have five reasons why Knicks’ fans will consider switching to another team, but even better reasons why they won’t.

1. A whole new start, a whole new city, a whole new stadium and a new revamped team - Who wouldn’t be excited?  Whether it’s a new team, a new pair of Jordans, or a new iPhone, anything that is new is always refreshing and exhilarating.  When it comes to the Brooklyn Nets, it is something completely different than a new team like the Charlotte Bobcats – they started out from scratch, with no foundation besides a few high draft picks and prospects that would help them down the road.  The Nets on the other hand, are past the rebuilding process and have a very solid lineup already consisting of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, and Brook Lopez.  These are experienced players and will almost guarantee an entry in the playoffs this year.  They are ready now and they are ready to contend.

The new arena, Barclays Center that will host the Nets, is beautiful and clean and ready for a new beginning. It has a 5-tier video scoreboard, in house Wi-Fi, and interactive team tweets during games.

July 13, 2012; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams and guard Joe Johnson pose for photos at a press conference at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

 2.  The location and affordability - As I said earlier the Nets moved to Brooklyn.  Over the years Brooklyn has become a popular and cool destination to live for young professionals.  Hence, it will be a lot easier to attend games due to the short distance and loyalty to rooting for a team in their own borough.  Another thing to consider is the affordability of the tickets.  Last year the Knicks raised their prices by 49% and even the top, top seats were high priced.  The price for the seats in Brooklyn however will be more affordable – over two thousand tickets will be priced at $15.00 and 50 percent of all ticks are $55.00 or less.

3.  The Nets colors, logos, and jerseys – Although the colors are very simple (black and white), sometimes simplicity is what makes something really attractive.  I think the logo and the colors are simply bad a** and it has a nice elegance to it.  Music icon and part-owner Jay-Z said “the Brooklyn Nets’ logos are another step we’ve made to usher the organization into a new era”.

4. Advertising is very catchy.  The Nets introduced the “Hello Brooklyn” marketing campaign to connect the city with the new team and capture the attitude, pride and history of Brooklyn.  They have presented this on billboards all over Brooklyn and on subways and used lots of social media platforms.  The Nets first year will also be broadcast on “The Association”, a behind the scenes series on NBA TV and NBA.com.

5.  Fans are tired and frustrated - the Knicks have been in a playoff drought for 38 years dating back to 1973…these were the good years and Knicks fans reminisce over these times.  It’s been tough for any Knicks fan over the past decade with Dolan overspending on players with infamous sidekick Isiah Thomas.  They were also disappointed with not re-signing fan favorite Jeremy Lin and they can’t see Carmelo and Amar’e Stoudemire coexisting.

While it seems that all these reasons are reasons to switch over, here’s why all those reasons don’t matter.

We are the New York Knicks – Walt Frazier, Earl the Pearl Monroe, Bernard King, Dave DeBusschere, Willis Reed, Patrick Ewing, John Starks… HISTORY!!!!! The REAL New York City (Manhattan).  Although Barclay Center is brand new, there’s nothing like the newly renovated Madison Square Garden – “The Worlds Most Famous Arena” and its history.

• I know its hard that we haven’t won in 38 years but the feeling of winning after a drought is one of the most satisfying events in your life.  Do you want to be someone that switches to the Nets, while all your friends are cheering for the Knicks when they win the Championship.
• What does it mean to say “Hello Brooklyn”? That’s marketing? Brooklyn has been around for over 200 years!   The Nets logos and jerseys are very cool, but we too upgraded our jerseys and logos this year and they have some great style.  Click here for more info on new Knicks logos and uniforms. 
• Who wants to schlep all the way out to Brooklyn when the Garden is in the heart of the greatest city in the world?  The convenience of where the arena is unbeatable.
• When it comes to affordability – you know the Barclays Center will raise the prices eventually as the Knicks did.  Also most fans watch the games on TV anyway.
• Over the past years, the Knicks have been a dysfunctional mess.  But as Knicks fans we are used to this craziness and it shows how loyal we are to them.  We’ve gone through the worst and it could only get better from here. I did say earlier that the Nets have a very solid team but who knows how they will gel together in their first year? – the Knicks team on the other hand has Carmelo Anthony who played amazing in the London Olympics and Amar’e Stoudemire who worked out with Hakeem Olajuwon, and they have two years under their belt on what works and what doesn’t.  With the addition of some other great players, what’s not to be happy about for this upcoming year?  Like I said, We are the New York Knicks!

Click here to see Knicks 1994 GO NY GO

April 16, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; NBA commissioner David Stern at press conference announcing ownership to Tom Benson and the awarding of the 2014 All Star game to the city of New Orleans at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Surprisingly, Stern denied it (we had all been expecting him to fess up to a rigged lottery, after all).

Stern replied, “I have two answers to that. I’ll give you the easy one: no. And a statement: shame on you for asking.” Stern, evidently (somewhat reasonably) offended by the question, continued, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?” Rome and Stern debated the topic, with Rome pointing to the large number of people that believe the lottery is fixed, while Stern defended the league, essentially saying they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“I think if [the number one pick] had gone to Michael Jordan [and the Charlotte Bobcats]… people would have said, ‘Oh, David’s taking care of his friend Michael’”, Stern argued. “If it had gone to Brooklyn, which is going into Barclay Center, it would’ve been fair to speculate, I suppose, that we want to take Brooklyn off of the mat. So there was no winning.”

Stern makes a point that an argument could always be made that the lottery is fixed no matter who wins. However, this year, the Bobcats were by far the worst team in the NBA, and people were expecting them to receive the number one pick. Instead, when it went to New Orleans, a team that lost its superstar in Chris Paul this year, and had just been bought from the league. The year before, the Minnesota Timberwolves had the worst record in the league, but the Cleveland Cavaliers were awarded the number one pick, the year after they were snubbed by LeBron James.

Of course, there have been other theories that the draft has been fixed, but there also have been other years where the team that won the number one pick wasn’t all that surprisingly.

Stern said the idea is brought up as a cheap trick for media outlets to get an audience, and said Rome has made a living out of it. Rome took offense to the statement, and the interview ended shortly after with an awkward exchange of goodbyes.