Making dip and watching the draft lottery while the world burns

This will be my first time watching the NBA Draft lottery in a couple of years. I used to work as an adult ESL teacher — a job I absolutely loved, but one that forced me to teach the occasional night class. The gig was only part-time, and in the immortal words of Latrell Sprewell, I got a family to feed, so I moved on to a full-time job. I’d be lying if I said the decision wasn’t also partly based on my desire not to miss any more big Knicks-related events.

My first day was Monday, March 9. Two days later, Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with COVID-19 and the Knicks played their final meaningful game of 2020 (probably). They missed out on the Disney Bubble. The draft has been moved back until friggin’ October 16. My beloved Las Vegas Summer League was cancelled.

So much of the world has gone to hell during that time, but this is just a dumb article about big, dumb dummy who misses his basketball team. I had grown accustomed to nearly year-round Knicks-related entertainment — if we can call what the Knicks do “entertainment” — and I’m jonesing for that special feeling.

That is why I made dip for Thursday’s lottery. It might not be a basketball game, but it’s the first meaningful live televised event involving my Knicks in nearly six months. I invite you, my fellow Knicks fan, to go all-out for your very own personal draft night revelry. Buy some chips and some beer. Order some good food. Live it up!

The Knicks have something like a 37% chance of moving up in the draft. That seems pretty comparable to their odds of winning any single basketball game over the past six seasons. Sure, the lottery only lasts 30 minutes — with approximately 15 minutes set aside for commercials — but let’s live for those 30 minutes, win or lose.

Knicks fans won’t feel another buzz like this until draft night, and God only knows what the world will look like by then. Let’s savor this moment.