11:28 am Aug. 17, 20121
The Times' Howard Beck commemorated the one-month anniversary of the Knicks' decision to allow its most popular player in years, Jeremy Lin, to join the Houston Rockets for nothing by noting that there's still been no explanation from the Knicks about why that happened, and noting that there probably won't be media day on Oct. 1.
From Beck:
By then, two and a half months will have passed, giving the Knicks a convenient and self-created loophole: That’s old news. The approved script will no doubt be, 'We’re looking forward' and 'We’re focused on the players who are here' and 'Look, Raymond Felton lost weight!'
Beck is almost certainly right. And the fact is, if the Knicks get off to a roaring start, or Jeremy Lin struggles mightily in Houston, or both, the conversation will naturally shift away from the team's whiplash-inducing journey from "absolutely" re-signing Lin to letting him go.
In the likelier event that Lin doesn't fall flat on his face, the fans will continue to wonder why the Knicks couldn't have found a way to keep him around.
In the meantime, the only explanations are coming from Lin, who has taken the high road, as in this conversation with a distraught five-year-old acting as proxy for a large segment of the Knicks' fanbase.
Lin should be just fine in Houston, and the Knicks will be relying on Raymond Felton to help them move on, too.
If it doesn't work out for the Knicks? Well, that's going to be an issue for the fans to work through by themselves, once again.
Why don't you get over it, pal? This is bordering on stalkerish.