NEW YORK — Stan Van Gundy, the last person to actually coach Zion Williamson in a NBA game, believes the discussion about the superstar’s relocation to New York is not only premature, it’s indicative of false hopes created by the Knicks and the organization’s continued “arrogance.”
“It’s possible,” he said of Williamson going to the Knicks. “But listen. The Knicks have this thing and it’s amazing. No matter how many times people have proven they don’t want to play for the Knicks, the Knicks have this idea that everybody in the league wants to play for New York,” Van Gundy told ‘The Dan Le Batard Show.’ “Now when is the last time it actually happened that somebody actually came and tried to get their way to New York? Like, never in the last 20 years? But still the Knicks and the Knicks fans think everybody is trying to get to the Knicks. I’m not saying (Zion) won’t end up there — there’s all kinds of ways people can end up somewhere — but this idea that everybody wants to be a New York Knick. I mean if that were the case then they wouldn’t be as bad as they’ve been for the last 20 years.”
There’s renewed speculation about Williamson’s desire to leave New Orleans after his former teammate, JJ Redick, labeled the 21-year-old as “detached” from the team. It’s not exactly a startling revelation considering Williamson has been rehabbing an injury and ballooning in weight, but the Knicks have been at the forefront of the Williamson rumors for a few reasons:
