As the 2019 NBA Draft approached Thursday night, it became rather clear that the New York Knicks were going to draft R.J. Barrett with the third pick.
His mother is a native of New York City. His grandfather played at St. John’s. Barrett wanted to go to the Big Apple.
Once the draft kicked off, that became a reality. New York selected Barrett, who took to the podium in Brooklyn to greet Adam Silver with smiles ear to ear.
But before the draft, Knicks fans were already preparing for Barrett to be the selection.
The disrespect to former Knicks legend Amar’e Stoudemire is real here. He wore No. 1 during a legendary Knicks career that saw the former All-Star earn $91 million with the team.
For Knicks fans, the hope here is that Barrett can help this franchise overcome what has been a disastrous past few seasons in the Big Apple.
At the very least, Barrett was not booed. That’s a start.