The Knicks are NBA champions, and the Nets are at the lowest point in their franchise. The Nets have been bad on their own at multiple points in their history, but their horridness has never coincided with the Knicks being successful. Even worse, the Nets directly contributed to the Knicks’ success; in 2024, they traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks. At the start of the 2020s, it seemed like the Nets were the favorite in the New York basketball scene to win a championship, but nevertheless, the Nets are at rock bottom through a mix of bad luck and their own mistakes. From rock bottom, you can only go up, so the Nets must look forward and inward in their hopes of matching the Knicks’ success.