Nets-Knicks Rivalry...It's On (the Air)

It started with the Nets' "Blueprint for Greatness," then moved on to competition for free agents. Most recently, the Knicks upped the ante by placing billboards featuring Amare Stoudemire and their "You, Us, We, Now" slogan at either end of the Barclays Center construction site. 

Now it's moved to the airwaves. Twice during the broadcast of the Knicks-Pistons game Sunday, MSG aired a commercial for Tuesday's game between the New York rivals.  "Hey Nets," intoned a voiceover. "You can walk like us, you can talk like us, but you ain't never gonna be like us.  Knicks, Nets, Tuesday, 7:30, MSG."  The commercial was produced by MSG, not the Knicks, but it doesn't much matter.  They're both owned by the Dolans.

Some of us remember when the Knicks would never even acknowledge the Nets' existence. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, bloggers for the Nets and Knicks offer their opinions on whether the borough should embrace the Nets, with a Nets blogger saying the team is developing Brooklyn "swagger" and the Knick blogger suggesting the Nets are "carpet-baggers."

• Nets will become Brooklyn - Jaime Oppenheimer - Brooklyn Paper
• Nets are carpetbaggers - Mike Kurylo - Brooklyn Paper