The New York Knicks Are Dead Weight

Just when you think the New York Knicks couldn't get any worse, they come right back at you with a statement game. In one of the most embarrassing performances of the year, the New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers by 40 points.

The 76ers are seven games under .500 and average a mere 95 points per game. But on the night they played the Knicks, they scored 124 points and 50 points in the first 16 minutes of the game. It was rather embarrassing, and it was a performance that usually would have the phones of sports talk radio stations across New York City buzzing with fans disgusted with the performance of their once legendary franchise.

But this was not the case the following morning after this 40-point debacle of a loss. Instead, the loss was quite innocuous in terms of the ramifications it had on the minds of sports fans. No Knicks fans seemed to care. Had the loss maybe happened in November or December though, then there would have been an outcry and the usual clamoring for General Manager Isiah Thomas's job.

But this loss came in late February, a time when not only the NBA is mired in the dog days of winter, but also a time where pretty much every team is what we thought they were. Sure, some teams make a big run to get into the playoffs in the last month and a half or so, but for the most part, teams aren't going to all of a sudden become a playoff team with out the emergence of previously injured player or a blockbuster trade.

So it appears as if Knicks fans have accepted their fate. The Knicks suck, and there is no changing it. It's a sad, sad, realization, but at 16-38, as Brian McNamee would say, "It is what it is."

But what it also is, is a crying shame. We're talking about New York City, the Mecca of basketball. This is where hundreds of legendary names in the sport of basketball have come from or developed their legendary status. We're talking about names like Rick Pitino, Patrick Ewing, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Marv Albert, Caremlo Anthony, Red Auerbach, Larry Brown, Bob Cousy, Willis Reed, Clyde Frazier, Stephon Marbury is still a high school and street basketball legend, and even Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn!

However, it appears as if those legendary names, the fans, and the media can only look back at the great days of New York City basketball and the Knicks and just hope for better days. Because right now, the Knicks hotline is dead, the team is unwatchable, and the fans are apathetic. Their world where the Knicks were once a beloved franchise that always fielded a competitive squad is gone and now the Knicks just are what they are.