After Stephen Curry went absolutely bananas last night in New York, I found myself entangled in a twitter argument with a very good friend/ HHSR backer, who also happens to be a diehard Knicks fan. At the risk of alienating one of our biggest supporters, I proceeded to antagonize him by saying that Madison Square Garden, the long time home of the Knicks and internationally known as “The World’s Most Famous Arena” was overrated as a historical place of relevance in a basketball context.
The argument is as follows:
How do we measure the relevancy of one arena versus another? It really boils down to the important moments that have actually taken place inside those walls. MSG certainly has seen its share of epic performances, which is largely a function of its longevity, as the Knicks have called it home since 1968. These days though, most franchises are looking to break ground on a new arena/stadium/ballpark so frequently, that for MSG to be going strong for nearly 50 years is impressive.
The problem, however, lies within the success of the home team. The New York Knicks are arguably the most overrated franchise in all of professional sports. This is a franchise that in 67 years has won only two championships and only four division titles. They’ve made the finals just twice since 1973, despite bringing in more dough than almost every other NBA team and being a major destination for free agents.
In actuality, the majority of the moments that have made this building special in the eyes of many were the amazing individual performances authored by some of the best to ever do it. Yet very few of these men responsible for these masterpieces donned the orange and blue.
Reggie Miller, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Jordan are the men best known for lighting up Broadway. Now Steph Curry has etched his name on the hardwood of the Garden (even if he’s not the same caliber of player, his game last night was as impressive as any other). But if these are the most noteworthy events to take place in this gym, Willis Reed/Walt Frazier notwithstanding, should we really consider it “the Mecca of basketball”?
Certainly, there are factors at work that make MSG a truly unique place to play. The unmatched energy of the crowd, the electric nature of New York City (the bright lights, the big city emotion, the celebrities in attendance) and the historical significance of the venue in general (heavyweight title fights, a Stanley Cup, concerts, Wrestlemania’s, etc.) have always caused players to ratchet it up a notch. But the Knickerbocker’s futility over the years has on some level diminished the significance of the arena from a basketball standpoint.
Imagine all of the great players in the league getting psyched up to set the Time Warner Cable Arena (aka “The Cable Box” as I was recently informed) on fire.
Sidebar: For those wondering, the Time Warner Cable Arena is where the Charlotte Bobcats play their home games.
The Bobcats have been hanging out near the bottom of the standings in the NBA since their inception. Very few memorable games/moments have taken place in their arena, in large part due to Charlotte’s struggles as a team. But if guys start doing there what Curry did in the Garden last night, we wouldn’t suddenly put The Cable Box on a pedestal as one of the great basketball venues.
An understandable rebuttal to this (one that my aforementioned friend raised) would be that the Bobcats’ arena would take its proper place in basketball lore if those epic performances by road players came over the course of many decades. However it is difficult to concede greatness to the Garden primarily because it hasn’t been bulldozed yet. One could easily argue that more significant basketball moments have taken place in Staples Center (Est. 1999), the United Center (Est. 1994) or The Palace of Auburn Hills (Est. 1988).
Ultimately, the Knicks have not had nearly enough team success to validate the status Madison Square Garden has received in a historical context. Is there something special about big games in that building? Sure. But years of underwhelming play on the court has reduced MSG’s greatest claim to fame as the place where all other great players go to destroy the Knicks.
Is this really the stuff of legend?
Since its first game in 1999, Cleveland Browns Stadium has been the sight for many epic beatdowns of the Browns by several great players (Ben Roethlisberger, Jamal Lewis and Adrian Peterson come to mind). Still, it’s never mentioned as one of the great football venues in the NFL today.
And it shouldn’t be.
Why is the Apollo Theater listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Because so many musical icons got their start there and careers were launched into superstardom based on performances on that stage. Right now, MSG is basically the equivalent of a venue that showcases already established superstars, thus making it similar to every other auditorium in America.
If we were fortunate enough to witness more Bernard King scoring sprees, John Starks dunks and a few championships along the way, the Garden would be more than deserving of all of the praise it receives as one of the great historical basketball arenas.
But as long as visiting players serve as the primary cause for the alleged greatness, MSG will in actuality be nothing more than a glorified playground for the basketball elite.