As we’re typing this on 21st December, planet earth is celebrating its second ever World Basketball Day. A momentous and historic observance not only reflecting the global significance and impact of what is for all intents and purposes the fastest growing mainstream game, but also its power to unite people worldwide. Crucially, basketball is the first ever team sport to get such a UN recognition. At the time of writing, the 2024-25 NBA season has officially completed around a third (27-28) of its regular season games (82), which provides as good a round-up checkpoint as any to start drawing some insights about what to expect next year.

The New York Knicks, reinvigorated and with plenty of wind in their sail after the blockbuster summer trades of Karl-Anthony Towns aka KAT and Mikal Bridges—as well as a new-found blue collar captain hero in Jalen Brunson riding on the coattails of his explosion last year—are currently faring with an encouraging 17-10 record (.630%). This places the group in solitary third seed in the Eastern Conference, behind this year’s unlikely revelation Cleveland Cavaliers (24-4!), and the predicable arch enemy Boston Celtics at number two (21-6). After a perhaps slower and rockier start than most would’ve predicted through mid-November—rendering a below .500 record going into their 15th-17th November double header against town derby rivals Brooklyn Nets—coupled with struggling performances from the aforementioned Bridges as well as Josh Hart, the Knicks managed to course correcte over the subsequent thirty days.

Since those Nets games, Brunson and co. managed to win twelve out of the following sixteen match ups, including statement victories against the Phoenix Suns (122-138), the recent NBA champs Denver Nuggets (118-145), as well as two times versus fellow Eastern seed rivals Orlando Magic (106-121 and 91-100). Such performance tightening and renewed focus allowed them to climb into reputable top 10 league averages as a team in terms of points made per game (7th), points conceded per game (8th), as well as assists per game (9th). During the same time span, the Manhattan franchise also succeeded in winning its NBA Cup Group A in the East, with a perfect record (4-0), only to capitulate to the Atlanta Hawks in a disappointing loss at home in the quarterfinals (100-108).

Now, it’s prohibitive to assess whether these first two months of Knicks basketball are more encouraging or cautionary to fans. While it is true that at the end of December last year, coach Tom Thibodeau’s line-up had a more meager 17-15 winning record, it was also plagued by more intermittent injuries and, crucially, had not yet traded for franchise-changing small forward OG Anunoby. At the end of the regular season, thanks in no small part to their unprecedented January run (14-2), the The New York Knickerbockers saw fit to level up to a comparably robust .610%—not to mention their commendable playoff exploit reaching the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second year in a row (ended by a surprising effort by the Indiana Pacers).

At this point in the year, pound for pound we should be somewhat content and satisfied with the team’s current trading—yet let’s be honest how many of us would have signed for a 43% average field goal percentage after a two-day rest before the season kicked off, knowing four out of our five starters (Brunson, KAT, Anunoby, and Bridges) carry legitimate All-Star ambitions this year? Any year? Lest we forget, in less than thirty games hitherto, the Knicks have managed to lose to the Hawks twice, the Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, as well as last year’s laughing stock Detroit Pistons. Not exactly playoff contenders if you asked your pedestrian NBA fan. Nonetheless, knowledgeable hoops pundits seem to keep emphasizing process over results with this team, yet somehow not without incongruously acting shy of the realization that anything less than the Easter Conference Finals would be considered a flat out disappointment, considering the squad assembled this year.

To run the appraisal a smidge deeper than surface-level analytics, let’s talk about Thibs’s six/seven-man rotation for a hot second. How much longer exactly does he, can we, think we can get away with it? Mikal Bridges—who mind you hasn’t missed a professional basketball game since high school!—is averaging 38.3 minutes on the floor per game, in cold DECEMBER. I guess if anyone was to bet on which season would break his streak, make it the one in which Tom Thibodeau coaches him… Unrestrained floor demon Josh Hart follows suit with 36.8 minutes played each game, followed by OG Anunoby (36.6), KAT (34.5), and finally Brunson (34.3). By comparison, Sixth Man of the Year-hopeful Miles McBride averages a virtual ten minutes of fewer playtime than Brunson (25.3), whereas the only other notable second unit subs Cam Payne and Jericho Sims can only dream about even reaching twenty minutes a game (Precious Achiuwa does have better odds, although he just came back from hamstring injury and has only played in six games so far).

*Knocks on wood*. Granted, key chessboard pawn Mitchell Robinson is still yet to announce any comeback horizon from his fastidious ankle woes, and in 20/20 hindsight we really did not need that Landry Shamet’s shoulder injury against the Hornets in pre-season. Yet Thibs’s propensity to play with fire is beyond us. Are Hukporti, Kolek, and Dadiet that not worth giving Bridges and Hart an additional 2-3 minutes of benchtime each game? This is probably a good time to switch gears and focus on the joyous and celebratory topic currently on each Knicks fan’s mind: Bodega KAT. The Big Bodega. That is, in less than two months, the former Minnesota Timberwolves power forward has unequivocally proven to be the real NBA unicorn, putting in a significantly higher incisiveness than even captain Jalen Brunson at this point in the season.

This brand of Karl-Anthony Towns #32 is not only a guaranteed All-Star and All-NBA pick, but a genuinely realistic Top 5 NBA player contender, eyeing that coveted MVP title at the end of the season. He is currently leading the big men league in total rebounds per game—14.2, a whooping 1.2 more than the second ranked tie Sabonis-Jokić—and ranks an impressive third overall in efficiency rating (33.3), behind, guess what, two former MVPs; the aforementioned Jokić (42) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (36.6). The latter stat is presently faring a remarkable ten metric points higher than his 2023-24 season-end index of 23.4, placing him 28th in the league. Similarly, scoring-wise, so far this season Bodega KAT is cutting it just outside of the NBA’s top 10, sporting 25 points a game on average, compared to his 21.8 points at the end of last season. In this regard, Robinson’s absence is a blessing in disguise for the 29-year-old Dominican-American, as it enables him to act as false center in Robinson’s stead—except in a more positionless way, allowing him to alternate spaced out three-pointers with ruthless pick and roll screens, courtesy of Jalen Brunson.

As we all look to cut loose over the holidays here in the Western hemisphere, we’re inevitably being ushered into calling some sort of prediction over how far these New York Knicks can really go this year, with such a mob of talented hoopers. People are pointing at this team and this season as the kind of Godsend alignment of stars—pun intended—that could set a whole Big Apple on fire, heightening the hype and embrace to a level the city only last experienced in the 90s. In actuality, that might just mean making it to a best-of-seven game series in the Easter Conference Finals. Current NBA champs Boston Celtics still remain a notch above the rest league-wise, while these Cavs do not show any wavering sign whatsoever approaching their thirtieth game this season. On the other side, the Oklahoma City Thunder of former Knick center Isaiah Hartenstein seem to have constructed the kind of defense that could checkmate KAT and Brunson, whereby Ja’s Grizzlies are hella rancid scary too. Process over results, folks. Process over results. To the chagrin of all feline delicatessen mascots in New York City.

We’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and we hope to feel your interest again next time. And happy holidays this time around.

AV