As the decision was made earlier in the week by the team, The Hoop Doctors Rumor Patrol reported to you that the New York Knicks just named Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton as the team’s co-captains. But there was a subliminal message sent in that decision that needs to be pointed out. Needless to say, the Knicks haven’t had a whole lot to be excited about over the past decade, and this move sends a clear message to their returning players. That message is that the team doesn’t think much of them.
Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton are proven NBA players. Amar’e has been a household name for quite a while now, and Felton, while not quite a superstar, is very solid. On the heels of the disappointment that the organization felt by not being able to sign the coveted LeBron James this off-season, the team still planned on overhauling their roster in an attempt to inject new life into the squad and Madison Square Garden. The team has apparently made the concerted effort to transform the Knicks back in a winning franchise.
However, Amar’e and Raymond are two of the newest player on the team and it is somewhat of a brash move to name these guys co-captains prior to them even playing a preseason game for the club yet. By naming them co-captains, head coach Mike D’Antoni is telling Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler (probably the two best players on the team that still remain from last year) that they don’t quite cut it. Although they are still young players, Gallinari and Chandler are two of the most tenured Knicks players on the roster.
Prior to this summer, the Knicks subconsciously, and perhaps inadvertently, made Gallinari out to be the future of the franchise. He was drafted a few years ago based on his skillset and partially because of nepotism since his father and Mike D’Antoni played professionally together as teammates in Italy. For that reason, it almost felt as if he was a member of the team before he got there. After missing games his rookie season due to a bad back, Gallinari has come on of late to become a fan favorite.
When the dust settled from the frantic off-season moves this summer and Gallinari was still on the squad, I thought he would be named captain for the aforementioned reasons. I’m not as surprised that Chandler wasn’t named a captain, but Gallinari does surprise me some. Knowing D’Antoni, there is probably a method to this. He’s probably trying to use that as motivation for Gallinari, but at the very least, naming Gallinari as a tri-captain probably would’ve made more sense than him not being named at all.
The other way of looking at all of this is that the organization is trying to completely erase everyone’s memory of anything that has happened prior to today, because under the Donnie Walsh regime, they were planning for this summer so in essence, everything starts now. Perhaps by not naming any returning players as captains, it gives the fans a new perspective and outlook on the team. It will be interesting to see how Gallinari responds to this on the court.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
