Carmelo Anthony and Danilo Gallinari. Photo Credit: Nugg Love

Danilo Gallinari spoke with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about the posibility of the young Knicks. Press Play Below To Listen.

The 2017-18 NBA season began with rivalry week. On Tuesday, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers took on the new-look Boston Celtics and James’ old teammate, Kyrie Irving.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Carmelo Anthony got the win against his former New York Knicks.

Anthony was shipped to the Knicks in a blockbuster trade in 2011. In that trade, the Knicks sent Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and three draft picks to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter.

After that trade, the Knicks went 207-269, won only one of four playoff series and missed the postseason each of the past four years.

Years later, the trade makes you wonder: what if?

What if the Knicks hadn’t traded for Anthony and kept a Mike D’Antoni team that had a young core in Amare Stoudemire, J.R. Smith, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Nate Robinson and others?

“Well sometimes we talk about it or we meet about it with Amare, Raymond and other players who were there at that time and say if we would have stayed together we could have built something special,”  Danilo Gallinari told me on Scoop B Radio.

 “So that’s what we say.”

Gallinari, now a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, was drafted 6th overall in the 2008 draft by the Knicks. He had some good games while a member of the orange of blue, like the time he scored 17 points against the Atlanta Hawks on 4-5 shooting from downtown.

Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Raymond Felton were part of a young Knicks core. Photo Credit: New York Daily News

There was also that Halloween game in 2009 where he it rained three pointers; eight to be exact. Galo poured in a season high 30 points in the overtime loss and was one triple away from tying a Knicks franchise record held by both Latrell Sprewell and John Starks. The dude was official like a ref with a whistle, he just dealt with substantial injuries.

Nonetheless, his jumper was and still is lethal!

As for the what could have been the Knicks, all we can wonder is what if?

“Yeah, we had a very good chemistry going on,” said Gallinari.

“Especially a few weeks before the trade, we were doing really well. But you know, that’s in the past now.”

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The post Danilo Gallinari believes Knicks could have ‘built something special’ if he wasn’t traded for Carmelo Anthony appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Los Angeles Clippers guard, Jamal Crawford has been in the NBA for 16 years!

Time flies when you’re having fun.

Drafted out of Michigan in the 2000 NBA Draft, Crawford is revered for his smooth ball handling ability and crafty scoring. That combo has won him three NBA Sixth Man of The Year awards.

Although a member of the Clippers, many folks out east remember Crawford as a member of the New York Knicks.

One guy who remembers J-Crossover’s talent is the man who traded for him, NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas. Thomas, once the Knicks’ President and head coach, had a keen eye on the Rainier Beach High School product. “I had followed Jamal since he came from Seattle to Michigan,” Thomas told me by phone on a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio podcast. “And I thought: a 6’6” guy with handles.”

Crawford’s best statistcal season came during the 2007-08 NBA season while with the Knicks. He averaged 20 points and 5 assists in 80 games for the orange and blue. “His body was just, his game was ahead of his body, if that makes sense; like the things he was trying to do out on the floor,” said Thomas.

“He was seeing the right things to do. You knew he was mature. And over the last couple of years, once his body caught up with his game, I mean, he’s been swinging points whenever he wants to.”

Hey did you see Crawford and DeAndre Jordan’s chemistry last night in the Clippers’ 120-108 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday?  It was a thing of beauty!!!

Remember Jamal Crawford S. Carter Reebok Sneaker Commercial? 

At one time, the Knicks had a roster that included Crawford, Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph, David Lee, Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, Channing Frye, Steve Francis and Trevor Ariza. That’s a few championship rings, NBA All Star appearances and Slam Dunk Contest trophies attached to those names.

Disappointingly, the formula didn’t work out.

In a day and age where teams build through the NBA Draft like the once intact Oklahoma City team that included Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, as well as the current ‘Trust the Process,’ Philadelphia 76ers.

Imagine if that Knicks team had stayed together. “They were all under the age of 27 and that was a young team,” said Thomas “Had they been able to stay together and flourish, that would’ve been a pretty good team in the East.”

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The post Isiah Thomas on Jamal Crawford as a Knick: “You Knew He Was Mature” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.