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Social media. It’s either the greatest invention of our generation, or maybe someday will lead us to a nuclear holocaust in the hands of our president. Who knows?
All I know is, the Knicks are not good at it. Well, except for Luke Kornet. He’s indispensable. But to all the rest of ’em? Delete your account.
Take, for example, Allonzo Trier, who took it upon himself to slip-slide on into a fan’s DMs last night after the fan thanked him for not covering Eric Gordon on what wound up being the 3-pointer that sealed the Knicks’ loss last night, inching us ever-closer to Zion Williamson:
LMAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/3Zs1ANgFzw
— shamorie ponds fan acct (@thisisntxav) January 24, 2019
So, look. I get that Trier is only 23 years old. Some dudes are still a little hot-headed at that age, maybe especially Trier with the perpetual “undrafted” chip that he carries on his shoulder. And that’s cool and all. I like that fire. But Zo. Zo. ZO. You just have to learn that doing something like that in New Freakin’ York is going to get you in trouble.
"When it gets taken to social media, that means you're breaking the rules of being a team" pic.twitter.com/YDF0FAD7UK
— SNY (@SNYtv) January 24, 2019
So now there’s drama in the locker room. Some real Friday Night Lights shit. But hey, at least Trier learned his lesson, apparently (per ESPN):
“Getting frustrated about the game, then letting social media get the best of you and giving somebody a response that wasn’t to somebody that was relevant to the situation,” Trier told reporters after Knicks practice Thursday. “So my apologies for doing that. Obviously, I didn’t think he would take a picture of [the message] and post it, but he got his little clout or whatever ... his 15 seconds of fame.
”That’s why you don’t send stuff like that out.”
“Learned his lesson.” Certainly more than I can say for our next contestant:
♂️
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) January 24, 2019
If you’re having some déjà vu right now, it’s because Kanter’s already done this whole “tweet a facepalm emoji” schtick this season. Plus, as you’ve probably heard, he basically asked for a trade last night.
Oh, but don’t worry! He loves it here! He just wants to, uh... play! And, uh... win! Or something. Just know that he doesn’t want to be a distraction, and that’s why he keeps talking about himself:
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) January 24, 2019
Of course, this all stemmed from Fizdale allegedly telling Kanter that he would start yesterday, only to start Lance Thomas in his place (which, OK, maybe that’s a bit of a low blow):
David Fizdale said that when he told Kanter he was gonna start yesterday morning, nothing was set in stone at that point. And then after he made the change, "Keith Smart’s my messenger when I have to make a change." #Knicks
— Chris Iseman (@ChrisIseman) January 24, 2019
Kanter, an eight-year vet who has done little to nothing to develop himself as a player in the NBA, wants to know why he’s being treated like a vet and not like the 19-to-23-year-olds on the roster:
Well, asked if he had heard from Lance and Courtney about how to handle this, Enes said: "Yeah, look at those guys. I mean, Courtney or Lance, they’re 33, 34, whatever years old. I’m 26 years old. It’s not like I am old. You know what I mean? They treat me like I’m old."
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) January 24, 2019
At least David Fizdale has a good sense of humor about it:
Best moment today was David Fizdale’s reponse to whether he was worried about the Kanter situation becoming a distraction:
— Chris Iseman (@ChrisIseman) January 25, 2019
“What are we gonna do? Lose some more games?”
Is David Fizdale worried the Enes Kanter situation will become a problem for the 10-36 Knicks?
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 24, 2019
"What are we gonna do, lose some more games?" Fizdale said, chuckling. "I shouldn’t make light of it. Sometimes you gotta laugh."
His response today on Kanter's frustrations last night: pic.twitter.com/kCcXuLDQVN
So, thanks to social media, I got to read all this nonsense today, including crap from the Boston Celtics’ LA-based fan site:
In the past 24 hours:
— #RingerNBA (@ringernba) January 24, 2019
- Allonzo Trier and Tim Hardaway Jr. exchanged some expletives in the first quarter
- Trier DM'd a fan, defending himself, and then apologized for it
- Enes Kanter said he wants out if the Knicks aren't going to play him pic.twitter.com/xn9fywZ38J
All of this instead of getting to read maybe one or two positive pieces for once that could have highlighted the fun play from all of the 24-and-under Knicks last night.
Whatever. Just get Kanter and the vets all the fuck out of here already and let me watch my kids.
The Knicks have made Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee available in advance of the Feb. 7 trade deadline in addition to Enes Kanter, league sources say. Full story forthcoming via @NYTSports
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 24, 2019