Houston May Not Let NY Media Manufacture News Anymore

Ahhh, it's fall. The temperature's changing, the leaves are turning color, and the New York media is at the Knicks' training camp asking players questions that they can't possibly answer correctly in an effort to generate stories. Some things may never change, that is, unless Allan Houston has anything to do with it.

Mitch Lawrence of the NY Daily News is reporting that when asked about wearing Anthony Mason's former number, Houston simply responded, ""I didn't ask 'Mase' if I could wear it. I didn't think I needed to." Houston didn't deliver a no comment that would have insinuated that there was something to hide, nor did he give a controversial response that could have generated a story. He just gave the media a bland answer.

This may not seem like anything monumental, but when you consider the fact that the media has baited Stephon Marbury into controversial remarks regarding his speculated buyout or benching, and Eddy Curry has been lured into admitting that he thought the Knicks would get rid of either himself or Zach Randolph this summer, it's easy to see how important a little media tact could be to the chemistry issues this club has been having.

What could Houston have said that could have made headlines? After pondering that question, I've thought of the top ten answers the NY media could have been hoping for when asking Allan Houston about wearing Mason's number, and here they are:

10. "Patrick Ewing told me not to worry about it."
9. "I asked Chris Dudley if he had a problem with me wearing his number and he said it was fine."
8. "The guy was a backup All-Star in Miami. What does that have to do with his number here?"
7. "I have all the respect in the world for Mason, but only because the Knicks used him to bring LJ over."
6. "You've got Marbury wearing Starks' number, Curry wearing Oak's number, Gallo wearing Spree's number, and you're harassing me about wearing Mason's number?"
5. "It never occurred to me that the fourth all-time leading scorer in franchise history should call a former bench player to ask for permission to wear his number. Does anyone have a cell phone I can borrow?"
4. "You know, I heard the Long Island Surf were considering retiring his number, but I didn't think the Knicks were in on that too."
3. "Did anyone get to Crawford yet? I don't think he called McAdoo or Harper before grabbing #11."
2. "If Dick McGuire and Earl Monroe could share a number, surely Mase and I can do the same."

But the number one answer reporters were hoping to hear was:

1. "If Jared Stinkin' Jeffries would do the right thing and give me back my jersey, I wouldn't have to wear Mason's number."

Instead, they got a bland answer with no juice to it. There was no story behind what Houston said, and that's a big part of what he brings to this team. If Allan Houston can make this squad and establish himself as a leader, he can teach the next generation how to do the same thing. If Allan Houston makes this squad, the New York sports media may have to start finding news instead of creating it and that may result in a group of highly talented individual players known as the Knicks stumbling upon something known as team chemistry.