THE GARDEN Blooms

The Knicks are back. Deadass, they're back. A return to the tough, gritty, resilient style that made the teams of the past so dominant has allowed Saba Julius Randle and RJ Barrett and the Knicks an opportunity to compete for homecourt advantage in the 2021 playoffs. Facts.

- FRANKLYN CALLE 

OCTOBER 2019. The New York Knicks are getting ready to embark on the first road trip of the new season. As the team boards their chartered plane for the first time, guys are naturally looking to feel out where exactly to sit (and with who)—a seemingly minuscule decision on the surface but one that could technically have season-long implications. Shoot, for a young guy in the League, it could even be career-altering. We’ll explain.

It is in this moment that 19-year-old rookie RJ Barrett, in a scenario very similar to a high school freshman entering the cafeteria for lunch for the very first time, finds himself looking around the plane for a place to sit. He eventually turns to Julius Randle, who is entering his sixth year in the NBA and therefore is already sitting in his preferred spot, and asks if he could join him.

“He didn’t really know where to sit. He came and was like, Is it cool if I sit right here? And I was like, Hell no! Nah, I’m joking. I was like, Yeah, of course, man. I’ve always sat on the same place on the plane my whole career. He sat next to me and it’s just kind of been our thing…First day, and ever since then, hasn’t changed,” says Randle. “They have the table where the guys play cards. I’ve always sat to the left of the table—directly there. I sit there and [RJ] sits by the window.”