FS1’s Knicks-Themed New York City Subway Ad Has Fans Choosing Between Optimism And Pessimism

The Knicks are entering a new era after trading Carmelo Anthony to the Thunder and handing the keys over to third-year star Kristaps Porzingis. Getting rid of Melo gives New York a chance to focus on the development of what is becoming a young core and, hopefully, finding a bright future after nearly two decades of mediocrity.

There are still some major moves that need to happen to fully shed the errors of Phil Jackson, like finding someone to eat Joakim Noah’s salary, and there are certainly questions about some moves made this summer, like giving Tim Hardaway Jr. over $70 million. However, there is some cautious optimism among certain Knicks fans that the organization is moving in the right direction.

For others, they’ll need to see it to believe it and won’t believe anything good can happen with the Knicks so long as James Dolan is still around and they’re just waiting for the inevitable disaster that ruins any positive progress. To play into that split among Knicks fans, and their general brand as the sports television home of all things debate, Fox Sports 1 has done a massive ad program with the NYC Subway that has produced some very funny images.

The “Pick Your Side” campaign features a side for optimism and a side for pessimism among Knicks fans, with the latter causing quite the stir on social media on Tuesday when they were revealed. That’s because the ads feature Knicks players with the word “HOPELESS” in front of them, among other things.

There’s also the positive side, which unsurprisingly focuses on Kristaps being “the truth” and the future of the franchise.

FS1 will get what it wants out of the ads in that people are talking about them, although I’m not sure they’ll necessarily endear themselves to Knicks fans with the campaign. For the rest of us, it’s given us something to laugh about, which is appreciated right now.