Straight Nonsense: Gird your loins for a Knicks win, New Yorkers
· Yahoo Sports
In the column Straight Nonsense, columnist Moises Mendez II takes a queer eye to the insanity of straight culture.
If you thought New York City was already planning to have a feral summer after the brutal winter we recently endured, just you wait until after the Saturday matchup of the New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs.
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We are on the precipice of what could be one of the most exciting as well as the scariest days in Big Apple history: the Knicks winning the NBA championship for the first time since 1973. If this comes to pass, we are going to see previously unseen levels of chaos burst out across the city.
I won’t be in the city to witness the mayhem (I’ll be in Fire Island for Bear Weekend, but will be cheering on my home team from across the Great South Bay). But if there’s anything gay people understand, it’s why straight people are foaming at the mouth for the sense of community that this basketball team is bringing to the boroughs.
I’m not a lifelong Knicks fan; as a born-and-raised New Yorker (the Hudson Valley, not NYC), I knew they weren’t always the best team. If you’re from here, there’s always been an understanding that the Knicks haven't been this good in decades, hence the fervor surrounding this insane run.
However, I jumped on the bandwagon once the team officially made it to the finals, and it’s been a wild and bumpy ride. In my 10 years of living in the city, I haven’t seen this communal sense of excitement since Pride 2019, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
When the Knicks won Game 2 on Friday, I was watching the broadcast at a (straight) bar in Williamsburg during my high school friend’s bachelorette party. Once the game ended, New Yorkers poured out onto the streets, and you could hear a cacophony of cheers and car horns. The owner of the bar drew a hopscotch on the sidewalk and said anyone who did it got a free shot. Random men yelled, “Knicks in four,” as they passed on the sidewalk, and we joined in.
It’s now “Knicks in five” after they lost one game. Though if they win on Saturday, they are undoubtedly taking home the whole thing. Wednesday’s game proved that the the Knicks are capable of taking the championship; they pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history by winning the game after being down 29 points at halftime. The game-winning shot gives me chills every time a video of it pops up on my social media, even two days later.
The energy generated that night in Madison Square Garden could power a continent for years. (Many of the fans there paid thousands of dollars for a ticket, but if there were a chance to see a play like that in person, I would refinance my mortgage). The defeat on the face of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was delectable, because he’s been playing dirty this entire run. Watching everyone celebrate this triumph is just practice for when the Knicks finally take home the title. The parties on the street after every win are a reminder of why this is the best city in the world — and it's not only because we get meme-worthy content every time.
If you're in New York City, I would suggest you start taking all the precautions necessary right now, because the Knicks will be winning. The city will have to brace itself. New Yorkers will find a way to flip the entire island of Manhattan upside down (no matter the outcome of the game). There are no ifs, ands, or buts. We are about to see some of the most diabolical levels of New Yorker-ness, and it's exactly what we deserve after having to deal with Mayor Eric Adams for the past three years.
Moises Mendez II is a freelance culture writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Follow him on Instagram @moisesfenty.
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This article originally appeared on Out: Straight Nonsense: Gird your loins for a Knicks win, New Yorkers