Ben, We Hardly Knew Ya'
The Ben Simmons saga seems to be over before it began. Plus, My 5th best Knick of the last 25 seasons.
Good morning! Before we get to today’s edition of 25 for 25, allow me a minute to (mercifully) put the Ben Simmons-to-the-Knicks news cycle to rest once and for all.
As a reminder, Ben Simmons’ name first came up in connection with the Knicks more than two months ago. Since then, he has continued to pop up in rumors, with recent reports indicating that New York and Boston loomed as the final suitors for his services.
That was until roughly a week ago, when the story officially got weird. First, Stefan Bondy reported that Simmons was deciding whether or not to continue playing at all. Then, Ben’s agent Bernie Lee notified the NBPA that he would no longer serve as Simmons’ agent. That Marc Stein report was followed by another on Monday stating that the Knicks offered Simmons a one-year deal but that he turned it down. In response, every Knick beat reporter put out the same missive that while Simmons and the team had been in touch, a deal was never officially offered.
At this point, regardless of what went down behind closed doors, it seems like we can close the book on the former No. 1 overall pick ever suiting up in blue and orange.
An early autumn gift if there ever was one.
In other news, Ian Begley reported that the Knicks are among a few teams that have been in touch with 29-year-old Maccabi Tel Aviv big man Roman Sorkin, who has played well during Eurobasket. As a reminder, the Knicks have one minimum contract to spend on an NBA veteran regardless of their years of service time and another minimum deal to use on a player with no NBA experience. Sorkin would be a candidate for the latter, which would still give the Knicks the ability to sign a vet with NBA experience like Landry Shamet.
On that note, lets get to today’s honoree…
25 for 25: No. 5 - David Lee
As many of you know, I have spent the last decade as a teacher in the New York City public school system.
Like most schools, mine has generally contained a representative sample of students and teachers. Some classes run like clockwork. Others are a broken clock, offering but a few productive moments per day, usually by accident.
I’m not proud to admit it, but I have been at the helm of the latter on more than one occasion. It is a truly painful experience for all involved, and I have always felt bad for my co-teachers who don’t have an outlet like KFS to look forward to.
They also weren’t the ones I had the most sympathy for.
The people I have felt the worst for, unquestionably, were the one or two students in those classes who genuinely wanted to learn, grow, and generally be part of a functional unit. I always tried to go out of my way to help those kids because it wasn’t their fault they were in a sinking ship, but even with my extra effort, I knew they were getting the short end of the stick. Disfunction is like the all-consuming alien from The Blob. One way or another, you’ll eventually be roadkill.
That giant moving puddle of alien goop is the best possible analogy for the mid-2000’s Knicks, and David Lee was an innocent, well-meaning bystander caught in its path.
