Moment Number Two: Knicks Brawl Sparks Season

Down by 23 points with a few minutes left to go against the Denver Nuggets JR Smith was in the midst of a breakaway that likely would have ended in a dunk. However, instead rookie Mardy Collins committed a hard foul to Smith, Collins' second in as many days. Quickly Smith bounced off the floor and went to face to face with Collins, and an ugly game switched to an ugly brawl in a blink of an eye. Suddenly Nate Robinson, who had recently planted himself in the Knicks rotation --playing 25.2 minutes over his last three game--, violently pushed Smith away from his first year teammate. The rest is history.

The brawl, one of the most embarrassing moments at MSG in recent memory, made nation wide news. The quiet jokes from NBA fans at the Knicks quickly grew to an all-night special of laughs, featuring Nate Robinson and Mardy Collins. Robinson, most known for his flamboyant nature and amazing jumping ability was called a moron and a hypocrite on more than a few occasions. 10 games prior to the brawl Nate attempted a break-away dunk against the Cavaliers where he bounced the ball off the floor, and then preceded to travel. After the Nuggets game Nate proclaimed that the Nuggets were running up the score, and were show boating by doing reverse dunks. In fairness, Nate's attempt came in a close game, where the Knicks did not have a lead, so Nate was doing it more for the crowd reaction, as opposed to running up the score. Meanwhile, Mardy Collins was unfairly labeled a thug. To this day whenever I hear Mardy called a thug I become upset at the ignorance of the person. Anyone who has talked to Collins has said that he is a nice, good-hearted, gentleman--the exact opposite of a thug.

When it was all said and done and four Knicks players and eight total players were suspended the Knicks team suddenly began to play well. In the 17 games since the brawl the Knicks have gone an inconsistent 9-8. Since then Stephon Marbury has drastically turned his season around, while Robinson is finding it difficult to play even in garbage time (with the exception of the Miami Heat game, where he basically had to play).