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Knicks-Heat rivalry a throwback
Posted: Saturday May 06, 2000 02:09 AM
It is basketball as warfare -- brutal, dangerous, often ugly to behold. There is very little grace to it, and certainly no flash. You'll probably see more flagrant fouls than acrobatic dunks, more 24-second violations than no-look, wraparound passes. The New York Knicks-Miami Heat rivalry, which is being resumed in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning on Sunday, won't in any way resemble the kind of smooth, aesthetically pleasing basketball that most of us think we want to see. Oh, and one other thing: Heat vs. Knicks is also the best thing about the NBA. That's right. It's not just the most bitter rivalry in the league; it's the most compelling piece of theater the NBA has to offer. Better than an All-Star dunk contest, better than a Kobe-to-Shaqalley-oop, better than The Answer's killer crossover. How can that be, you ask? It's because the Knicks-Heat unpleasantness is the real thing, the genuine article. In a league that seems increasingly like slickly packaged, made-for-TV entertainment every day, the New York-Miami rivalry is, strange as it may seem, like a breath of fresh air. There is passion here, the kind of antagonism that can't be created by any marketing machine. How many other matchups could inspire a line as memorable as Heat point guard Tim Hardaway's about the Knicks: "I hate them with all the hate you can hate with"? You've got to love that level of hate. It's no coincidence that there isn't a single Madison Avenue megastar on either team, no one who considers himself as much a celebrity as an athlete. Love them or hate them, these guys are players, first and foremost. You never get the impression that Patrick Ewing or Alonzo Mourning are worrying about their endorsements as much as their post-up moves. Maybe that's because none of the key players on either team is among the chosen ones, the players that the league, the television networks and sneaker companies throw their promotional muscle behind. Ewing and Tim Hardaway are too old, Allan Houston too quiet, Mourning too frighteningly intense and Latrell Sprewell simply too frightening. There is nothing to distract these guys from basketball and their intense dislike of each other. Just as there are no over-hyped stars, there are no clear good guys or bad guys. Both teams have had their dark moments, from P.J. Brown's body slam of Charlie Ward to the Mourning-Larry Johnson slap fight. There are complex characters in this drama whose actions come in shades of gray. Is Pat Riley a great coach or a guy who skipped town on the Knicks in an shabby way? He's both. Is Ewing a warrior who has fought through numerous injuries to help lead his team once again, or is he a surly, uncommunicative grump who makes himself hard to like? He's both. There was a time when a rivalry of this intensity wasn't so rare in the NBA. Remember the Celtics-Lakers, Bulls-Pistons, Sixers-Celtics? But that was before the money on and off the court grew so huge that players began to consider opponents more like fellow entertainers than bitter enemies. The Heat-Knicks rivalry is a throwback. If the style of play isn't exactly conducive to the nightly highlight shows, so be it. Even if it ends in a four-game sweep, it could still be the most compelling series of the postseason. Even if you hate both teams, you have to love it when they get together. However it unfolds, it will be better than anything a script writer could have dreamed up. There's nothing like the real thing. Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor covers the NBA and appears
regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's This Week in the NBA. Look for his
column every Tuesday on CNNSI.com.
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