There is nothing politicians love more than trying to boost their approval ratings by showing they are just a normal person through their love of the local sports team. It is a tried and true method of relating to the voter base and even in a city like New York that has two teams in most every sport, that won’t stop mayor Bill de Blasio from trying to show his loyalty to all of them.
Last week, de Blasio showed up to a press conference wearing a Nets jersey under a dress shirt, like some kind of basketball fan Clark Kent deal, and doubled down this week by arriving in a Knicks hat and not just showing his support that way, but addressing the truly pressing issue facing New York: Trae Young’s shameless foul hunting. While not new, Young’s mastery of the dark arts of drawing fouls led to very loud “F*ck Trae Young” chants at MSG which he silenced with glee on his game winning floater.
On Tuesday, de Blasio said he needs to “play the game the right way” and “stop hunting for fouls,” citing Steve Nash’s critique of Young from earlier in the year.
NYC Mayor de Blasio, while wearing a NY Knicks hat, shades ATL Hawks’ star Trae Young:
“Stop hunting for fouls.” pic.twitter.com/i5TcB7AIoz
— The Recount (@therecount) May 25, 2021
The best part of these efforts is that I don’t think they work anymore in terms of getting people to like you, they just make politicians look like they’re groveling. In any case, whether they feel this was genuine or not, most Knicks fans would probably agree that they are already tired of the Trae Young foul show and would say something similar, albeit much more colorfully than de Blasio did. As for Young, I don’t foresee him suddenly changing his heart because the mayor of New York City asked him to, and if anything he’s probably just going to turn up the villain act for Game 2 as Atlanta looks to take a 2-0 lead back home.
