The topic of the somewhat dicey relationship between the Knicks and their beat writers comes up every once in a while, and Alan Hahn tackled it in his most recent Fix.
...when McGrady said he doesn't think LeBron James will come to the Knicks, he waved his hand at the three of us and said it won't be easy to attract top free agents this summer "because of you guys."
It echoed something Ron Artest said in November, as you can read here. Artest said NBA players are "scared of the fans and the media" in New York.
"You know how New York is," Artest said, "if you're not doing well, we don't like you."
Apparently NBA players prefer hero worship over raw honesty and unfettered opinion. They prefer the big fish/small pond ratio in smaller markets, where the coverage has the intensity of a street light. But that's not fair to say, because the NBA is loaded with good beat writers who do their job.
First of all, I could be wrong, but I don't think Hahn is really who Tracy McGrady has in mind when he says "you guys". The idea that some of the writers thrive on beating a dead horse and belaboring the obvious is familiar, though. There have been instances in which the honesty has gotten a little too raw, and the opinion more than a little fettered. Then again, I'm a Knicks fan, so it could be that I just can't handle the bitter truth. I'm interested to hear what you guys (especially those of you that can click over and read the whole blog post) think, particularly in the context of a season that's tested the patience of fans and writers alike.
Since discussions on the topic of the media tend to get heated, let me remind you to check your hate at the door before expressing your opinion.