Playing for the New York Knicks doesn’t necessarily mean players will live in the Big Apple.
Friday, the The New York Post reported that Knicks backup point guard Miles McBride has rented a luxury apartment in Chelsea, a posh Manhattan neighborhood. As the Post’s Stefan Bondy noted,This makes McBride one of the “few” Knicks players to actually live in New York.
While the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City, their practice facility is in Tarrytown, New York, about 45 minutes north of the city.
The Knicks can play 41 games per season at MSG (and more if they make the playoffs), but they travel to the practice facility more often, between training camp, practices and tours. Players can work out at the facility and receive treatment there. The team also flies out of Westchester County Airport.
Many players eventually decide to live in the New York suburbs, closer to the training center, where there is more space and cheaper housing, although it lacks the glitzy perks of Manhattan.
As The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov pointed out in 2020,However, some players are divided on where it is best to live. New York’s traffic doesn’t make the decision easy.
Former Knicks veteran Taj Gibson told Vorkunov he got a place in upper Manhattan, halfway between the practice facility and MSG. While he sometimes encountered traffic getting to and from the facility, he had a shorter commute after games.
“I feel bad for the guys after the game,” Gibson told Vorkunov. “They still have to drive and deal with traffic. It’s like picking your poison.”
Former Knicks like Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire have both chosen to live in the city.
It’s unclear exactly where some of the longtime players on the current Knicks team live, but based on Bondy’s tweet, it appears that many of them live in close proximity to the facility.
The remote training facility has at times hurt the Knicks as a free agent destination. Former NBA forward Jared Dudley told The Athletic in 2019 that the location of the Knicks’ training facility has hurt them when recruiting players.
“I would get rid of that Westchester training center,” Dudley said. “Nobody wants to live there, nobody wants to go there. We need to get as close to the city as possible.”
Many teams have built facilities near their stadiums, giving players a home base where they will spend most of their time. The Brooklyn Nets have done the same by opening a majestic new practice facility in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, about a 15-minute drive from Barclay’s Center.
For now, though, it appears the Knicks are settling for Westchester County and are unlikely to move their practice facility.
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