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After 53 long years, the New York Knicks have finally ended their championship drought.
Fans spanning across generations flooded New York City streets, restaurants and bars throughout the run, each with their own perspectives to draw from.
Once upon a time, though, it was the Brooklyn Nets who were expected to bring the next NBA championship to the Big Apple.
That time was actually only a few seasons ago, when Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden all proudly rocked the black and white.
While the Nets' championship dreams didn't materialize, and with many fans experiencing FOMO from their cross-rival friends, Nets GM Sean Marks is in no hurry to expedite his team's process despite witnessing how one championship can bring all walks of life together.
"No, not at all.
I mean, we're not, we're not, we're not going to be motivated or less motivated by what somebody else is doing," Marks said.
"I think we all we control is our path.
I think we set out on this a couple of years ago, and I think I'm very happy with what the group has done, what Jordi, the coaching staff, have done to develop these young men, and it's gonna be really exciting to see what they look like, and you know, whether it's a year or two years from here, and who really seizes this opportunity?" Marks has equally expressed that he will maintain flexibility for when an impact player suddenly becomes available, but from these comments, it doesn't seem like he will go for the big swing just for the sake of trying to land a big fish.
There are some players who might be had for a reasonable price tag who could flourish in Brooklyn, but Marks may still choose to focus on developing the players on his current roster and keeping al of his best tradable assets for when an MVP talent suddenly becomes available.
For now, the smartest play for the Nets is to continue to focus on the player development of Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr.
while allowing Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr.
to help the team compete for wins and set the culture in the short term to allow for meaningful growth to develop in the future.
Moving forward, however, tanking should not be in the Nets' vocabulary, as it's important for the young core to experience consistent winning.
Sameer Kumar covers the NBA and specializes in providing analysis on player performance and telling stories beyond the numbers.
He graduated from SUNY Oswego with a B.A.
in Broadcasting & Mass Communication.