BULLetin BOARD MATERIAL PART I
The Bulls, the Knicks and The World Wide Leader
On behalf of the fans of the Chicago Bulls, ESPN, we see exactly what you’re doing.
We see the love affair between you and the New York Knicks and we feel your resentment towards the Bulls. It’s time to dive into the bias that has been hiding in plain sight for a very long time.
(They literally had a five-minute segment about this after the Knicks’ first game of the season.)
BUT WHY THE KNICKS?
ESPN has a cavalcade of talking heads who are ready and willing to broach topics involving New York sports teams any chance they can get. Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman, Mike Greenberg and the newly acquired Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, to name a few, are all New Yorkers, so it’s no surprise that they need little-to-no motivation to talk about New York sports teams, even the lowly Knicks.
(I get it. Stephen A. is a New Yorker, but who cares?)
The New York Knicks, the perennial losers who have barely seen true relevance since 1999, and yet somehow, any minor success or controversy makes them newsworthy.
What’s so special about the Knicks? They aren’t even the most relevant basketball team in New York and haven’t been since the Nets moved to Brooklyn. Some may say, “Aren’t the Nets essentially a New York team as well?”. Sure, Brooklyn IS in New York but any true New Yorker would tell you that their preference is for the Knicks to be the best team in New York and it’s not even close.
ESPN shares that sentiment.
NEW YORK’S OTHER TEAM
The Nets get a lot of attention nowadays because they have two of the top basketball players in the world on their roster in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Not only that, but the two players in question both happen to be lightning rods for controversy over the last few years. So naturally, ESPN will often make them the subject of discussion.
In recent memory, however, there was a Nets team that had a winning season and ESPN didn’t care.
In 2018-2019, while the Knicks were busy only winning 17 games, the Nets won 42 and made the playoffs as the sixth seed in the East. This Nets team did it with a group of guys that weren’t household names. Despite the success of New York’s other team, ESPN’s primary focus was the potential of the Knicks drafting Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA Draft.
It’s customary for ESPN to overhype the Knicks’ chances at accomplishing pretty much anything. Whether it’s hoping to land the top pick in the draft, trading for a superstar or signing a big-name free agent, ESPN will be on top of it.
The funny thing is none of these things ever come to pass and of course, Zion never became a Knick.
WHERE DO THE BULLS COME INTO ALL THIS?
So what’s the connection between the Bulls, Knicks and ESPN? If ESPN loves the Knicks, it’s pretty safe to say that ESPN hates the Chicago Bulls.
But why? FOX and NBC get their shots in on the Bulls here and there but with ESPN, it’s just different. The “Worldwide leader” cuts the Bulls no slack. No matter how impressive the team record, it never fails— ESPN will find a way to tell you that the Bulls will eventually fall flat on their faces.
Maybe ESPN, which is basically a New York-based company, has had it out for the Bulls since the 90’s. Imagine being a young, up-and-coming sportswriter in New York and a fan of the Knicks in the 90’s. Your job would basically had been to cover your team being owned by the greatest player and team of all-time, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
To make matters worse, you would grow up, look back and realize this happened during a time that should have been your franchise’s renaissance. One could imagine that creating some harsh feelings.
Maybe these young, up-and-coming sportswriters eventually landed jobs at ESPN and some even became established decision-makers at the company.
Maybe some are even still feeling a little bitter about how things went in the 90s.
How else do you explain the way ESPN trots out a parade of “experts” who almost always happen to predict the Bulls to do poorly? How else do you explain “Linsanity” overshadowing the Bulls having the best record in the NBA in ’11-’12. As an added bonus, why else would the Knick get picked to play on Christmas Day over the Bulls when they hadn’t even made the playoffs in ’21-’22!?
Has ESPN been hating on the Bulls for 30+ years?
Is ESPN biased towards the Knicks?
I don’t know. Maybe it’s just all a coincidence.
…..“BING BONG”
