‘What Are We Doing?’ — Jalen Brunson Reacts to the Second Apron Forcing the Knicks to Lose Mitchell Robinson
· Yahoo Sports
Through careful cap maneuvering, wise trades, and players like Jalen Brunson taking less money than he could have bargained for, the New York Knicks built a roster capable of winning the NBA Finals.
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Yet, the NBA hasn’t had repeat champions since the 2017-18 season, and the Knicks know that the road back won’t be easy.
Jalen Brunson Weighs In on Second-Apron Penalties After Mitchell Robinson’s Departure
It also doesn’t help that the team had to say goodbye to valued center Mitchell Robinson, who signed a three-year, $47.4 million contract with the Boston Celtics in free agency. Yet the Knicks couldn’t afford to retain the shot-blocking extraordinaire due to the league’s intricate second-apron spending limits and the penalties for going over budget.
Now, Brunson has questions about why the NBA has rules like this. People used to complain and say the league didn’t have enough parity.
Now that eight different teams have won a championship in as many seasons, some, like Brunson, wonder if the league’s excessive penalties on spending limits have gone too far.
In fact, the Knicks star straight-up blamed the second-apron spending limit as the reason why Robinson will now be playing in Boston rather than in New York next season while speaking at New York City’s Fanatics Fest.
“I think there are pros and cons to it. Because of 2nd apron, we had to lose Mitch,” Brunson said. “I obviously would’ve loved to have him back… Everyone prior to 2nd apron. ‘We have too many superteams’… Now we have 8 different teams winning.”
“And now it’s like ‘Participation trophy.’ What are we doing? You guys want competition, or you don’t want super-teams, so what is it?” Brunson continued.
“What can we complain about now? I’d do it all over again. I don’t care. I’d sacrifice whatever. We won. It was worth it.”
You can’t have it all. Yet, most would argue that more parity, where it feels like almost any team, well, any contender, can win in any given year, makes the whole season more fun. Otherwise, if there’s an overwhelming favorite that just ends up expectedly winning the Finals, then what’s the point?
They may not admit it, but fans love drama. They soak it up. Thus, the more compelling all 82 regular-season games, plus postseason matchups, are, the better the ratings should be in the long run.
Otherwise, you run the risk of losing a large portion of NBA fan bases because their front office hasn’t assembled a powerhouse this year.