The New York Knicks have had their fair share of problems this season, but they’re not actually evil. In the NBA Star Wars universe, however, they’ve been given that rap quite a bit. There’s a lot to dislike about the Knicks as a franchise, even if you’re a Knicks fan these days. But they’re more of a hapless NBA franchise than one actually operating with hate in their hearts.
In the world of NBA marketing, though, the Knicks are the Evil Empire. As Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic noticed, the team’s recent road trip out West included four straight games in which the home team was hosting a Star Wars night. It’s not uncommon for the Knicks to be painted as villains, but this consistently and for four games in a row as the Evil Empire playing the good guys?
The Knicks are playing on a Star Wars night for the second straight game tonight in San Francisco on the second night of a back-to-back in a different city. I mean what are the odds. https://t.co/BTEyIXzy9M
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) December 12, 2019
You're not gonna believe this: it is Star Wars night in Denver. That's 4 straight for the Knicks. All 4 games of this West Coast trip have been Star Wars nights. What are the odds?! https://t.co/6I7UwH6iwN
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) December 15, 2019
Vorkunov decided to get to the bottom of this and talked to some Knicks players about the promotion. As Bobby Portis said, it was “kind of weird” that the team was cast as the Evil Empire so many games in a row. And they did, in fact, figure out what was happening.
By the next night in San Francisco, the Knicks began to notice something was amiss. Maybe it was the sound of Looney, repeating his lines time after time on the jumbo screen of the new Chase Center — the Warriors have replaced the Death Lineup with a Death Star of an arena by the Bay. Steve Kerr, he said, would make the best Yoda. Klay Thompson would make the best Chewbacca.
Surely, the dancing Princess Leias and Darth Vaders on the court had to have given it away. Who could possibly have missed that?
“It was kind of weird a little bit,” Portis said. But he also cautioned: “I’m not a big Star Wars fan. I don’t think I’ve seen a Star Wars movie. I don’t really watch. Not a big fan of that.”
Oh no, this isn’t good. Do the Knicks not actually care about Star Wars at all? Apparently not! Multiple players and coach Mike Miller all said they don’t really watch or have much interest in the series. So while the rest of us are all in on the joke they seem generally oblivious to it beyond it being weird. Even, Elfrid Payton, who used to be teammates with Star Wars superfan Nikola Vucevic, doesn’t seem very interested in the series.
“I hate Star Wars,” he said. “Trash.”
After four straight games as the bad guys, it’s hard to blame him.
