Knicks add pearls of wisdom to Earl Monroe charter school groundbreaking
Former Knicks basketball players Walt Frazier, second from left without a hard hat, Earl Monroe, center left, Knicks forward Julius Randle, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau and former Knicks player John Starks attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School, where the basketball court will be named for Randle, on Wednesday in the Bronx. Credit: AP/Brian Mahoney
The occasion that gathered a huge contingent of NBA power players — from NBA commissioner Adam Silver to Knicks front-office leadership Leon Rose and William Wesley as well as Tom Thibodeau, Julius Randle and a who’s who of Knicks history — was the groundbreaking of the Earl Monroe Renaissance Charter High School.
It was an impressive showing, celebrating the ceremonial start to the building of the new facility for the school in the Bronx. But for Knicks fans, coming just days ahead of the start of camp, it was hard to avoid the other questions and hints.
Randle drove a shovel into the ground, hugged Thibodeau and did so with no hints of ill effects from his April surgical procedure to repair his dislocated right shoulder. Asked if Randle was healthy for the start of camp, Thibodeau said, “Yeah, I think so. We’ll see. We open camp on Monday and we’ll get out there and get going. We’re looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
The challenge is for the Knicks to live up to the expectations placed on them, to try to capture the first championship for the franchise since Monroe and Walt Frazier combined for the 1973 title. Randle’s health might be the biggest factor, along with a subject that Frazier addressed — the sacrifice it took when the Knicks traded for Monroe, who was his nemesis while playing for Baltimore.
“Compliments to the team,” Silver said of the Knicks front office. “We hear less about this big-small market dynamic than we used to, particularly with this new system we’ve put in place where it’s not just a question of who is willing to pay the greatest luxury tax because there are competitive consequences even if you’re willing to go into the tax. And so we’re seeing in a positive way the effects of strong management . . . And now you’re seeing that with the Knicks as well. There’s always going to be luck. Teams aren’t going to get the draft right. Guys are going to get injured. But over time, the best-managed teams seem to be the most successful in the league.”
For this Knicks team, it will be the health of Randle and Mitchell Robinson (left ankle), both working back from surgery. But it will also be how they come together and sacrifice with the deepest roster the team has boasted in decades. The team added Mikal Bridges in an offseason trade from Brooklyn and will have Randle back after he missed the last three months of the regular season and the entire postseason. And as Frazier spoke about his time with Monroe, when people predicted they would have to have two basketballs, the lesson could translate to the Knicks, where players will have to give up minutes, shots and spotlights.
“It’s not as dynamic as when Earl came because everyone was saying we’d need two basketballs,” Frazier said. “It would never work. Frazier’s going to get traded. So there was a lot of negativity to that. But Earl and I made it work because of our mutual respect for each other. Actually, he made the sacrifice. In Baltimore they wanted him to shoot 30 times. They just wanted him to be the offensive guy. But when he came to the Knicks he said, ‘Hey man, I’m a basketball player. I can play defense. I can pass the ball.’ And he did that.”
The sacrifice for this Knicks team came even before the basketballs are rolled out next week. Jalen Brunson opted to take a contract extension this summer rather than wait until next summer when he could have signed a deal worth an additional $113 million, providing the front office with the flexibility to improve the team.
“Compliments to the Knicks and Jalen for creating an environment that he wanted to be in,” Silver said. “If he continues to play at the level he is, he’ll make an enormous amount of money, which is wonderful, but I think what he did with his contract is consistent with the way he leads on the floor. I think he made it clear to his teammates that he cares about them as well and he also realizes that in order to compete for championships, he needs great players around him. And I’ve enjoyed getting to know him. He’s an impressive guy.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
