Knicks fans don’t settle for simple T-shirts. (Not even, to the team’s dismay, free ones.)
They want to show their pride, yes, of course. But they’re not willing to squelch their sense of style entirely. This is New York after all, a city that attracts characters like rats to a slice of pizza.
And so, as the Knicks have barreled through the N.B.A. playoffs, the city has been coated in orange and blue. Beyond that committed color scheme, though, just about anything goes.
On Monday night, as the Knicks returned home for their first Finals game at Madison Square Garden since Rudy Giuliani was mayor, fans showed up in their finest hardcourt couture. In the crush, you could pick out a furry cowboy hat (perhaps a repurposed, blue-ified carry-over from the Cowboy Carter tour) and a frizzed-out blue wig. A blue gown was tasteful enough for the office. There were orange, paint-flecked overalls and orange-and-blue sweaters and sneakers, and more hats than there are minutes in a game.
Tracksuits and leather jackets showcased sundry versions of the Knicks logo from over the years, like a wearable flip through decades of old game programs. Graphic T-shirts hailed the current roster’s luminaries: Jalen Brunson, re-envisioned as “Cap’n Clutch,” and a towering Mitchell Robinson putting a poor Sixer in his place with a two-handed dunk.
A vintage-looking windbreaker seemed to say: “Oh, I’ve been there with this team through its doldrums and disappointments. I have earned this.”
The Knicks may ultimately have faltered to the Spurs that night, but these fans will be back on Wednesday. They’re probably plotting their outfits already.
