End of Season Awards, Part II

Plus, Leon's letter and the 3rd greatest Knick ever.

Good morning! We have a jam-packed, double-edition of the newsletter to end the week with, featuring analysis of some interesting words from Leon Rose, the second half of our end of season awards, and a look at (in my humble opinion, at least) the third greatest Knick ever. The reason I’m packing today’s is because next week will be the first of a few weeks this summer where one or two newsletters per week will be a somewhat abbreviated edition. The plan for right now:

• Monday: Greatest Two Knicks ever; Part I of offseason predictions

• Tuesday: Part II of offseason predictions

• Wednesday: Shorter letter, at least covering news & notes, plus a guest column

• Thursday: Biggest offseason questions, Part I

• Friday: Biggest offseason questions, Part II

With that, let’s get to it!

🗣 News & Notes ✍️

🏀 Leon Rose sent out a letter to season ticket holders yesterday, and while I usually put a negligible amount of stock in these sorts of things, I thought his choice of verbiage was interesting. Keeping in mind that this is a smart man who knows his audience, I nonetheless found it notable that he mentioned the term “young core” no less than four times, including here:

We currently have nine players 24 years of age or younger and eight players who are still on their first contracts. We recognize this team-build will be a steady climb, but there are real examples of progress and success, especially from our young core, that we can acknowledge and celebrate.

He mentioned the club’s veterans in passing only once, stating that in addition to guiding the youth, the coaching staff helps with the “vets’ ability to produce in their roles.” The head coach was mentioned by name, with a line noting that “We have seen multiple players take leaps over the last two seasons under Coach Thibodeau’s tutelage and commitment to playing the right way.” Julius Randle’s name, unsurprisingly, was nowhere to be found.

End of Season Awards, Part II

Don’t forget to check out the first half of the awards from yesterday in case you missed it. As a reminder, I’m unoriginally stealing categories from the Oscars, Grammys, Tonys, Razzies and MTV Movie Awards. Let’s do it.