Aaron Judge, Yankees keeping tabs on Knicks playoff run
Aaron Judge and the Yankees are keeping an eye on what Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are up to this NBA postseason. Credit: AP
BALTIMORE – Yankees players and staff were, obviously, occupied with their day jobs Tuesday night.
But many of them still had more than a passing interest in the Knicks trying to close out the Pistons in the first round of the NBA playoffs at the Garden.
“Any time, I feel like, a New York team is doing well, whether it’s hockey, it’s basketball, it’s us, I feel like the city’s just a little bit more alive,” Aaron Judge said before the Yankees played the Orioles at Camden Yards. “I think it adds a little juice, even to our games. They’ll show the score during the third, fourth inning or whatever, kind of gets the fans going. It just brings more life to the city, so I love it. It’s been fun to watch.”
Judge, who has been a part of celebrity row at various times over the years at the Garden for Knicks games, says he always appreciates the “intimate” atmosphere that comes with games at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
“I think about all the legends that have played there, all the magic moments there,” said Judge, who in the offseason splits time between his homes in Manhattan and Tampa. “It’s a special place.”
The Manhattan-born Anthony Volpe, who grew up in Watchung, N.J. a fan of both the Yankees and Knicks, said he’s kept fairly close track of this year’s Knicks as they earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
“Just their chemistry and how they all play defense really hard,” Volpe said. “And they play the whole game, the whole season. As a baseball player with our schedule and everything, the narratives around the NBA how guys take games off or do ‘load management,’ I just love and respect how much they play and how much they grind and how much they want to be out there.”
Hitting coach James Rowson, a bit older than Volpe (48 compared to 24), is also a native of New York. He grew up in Mount Vernon, also passionate fan of the Knicks.
“Super excited, man,” Rowson said before his team took BP Tuesday. “Growing up in New York, too, you know how hungry New York is to see the Knicks be good.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr., born and raised in the Bahamas before moving to the U.S. at the age of 12, is a lifelong fan of the NBA, though not of any particular team.
This offseason, however, that might have changed as he attended a Knicks game at the Garden for the first time.
“Being in New York kind of forces you to be a Knicks fan,” Chisholm said. “Because if you ever go to a Knicks game and you’re part of the New York Knicks fanbase at that Knicks game, the energy, the excitement of everybody … I’ve been to an Orlando Magic game, I’ve been to a Heat game. I don’t think it was more exciting than normal Knicks game. And that was a normal Knicks game I went to. I was at a playoff Heat game. I kind of like the Knicks, and it wasn’t even a playoff game. For me, it’s just like, ‘I might just be a Knicks fan now.’ They’re making me feel like I’m a New Yorker.”
Similar to Volpe, Chisholm said the effort he sees from the Knicks stands out.
“I just the like way they work,” he said. “Everybody knows their role, and everybody plays it.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
