You Can Bet Whether Knicks Fans Will Boo the Team’s First Round Pick at the 2019 NBA Draft
- Will New York Knicks fans boo if the team selects Duke’s RJ Barrett with the third pick of the 2019 NBA Draft?
- Sportsbooks are offering a prop bet on exactly this scenario
- Knicks fans are bitter that the team didn’t win the NBA Draft Lottery and get Barrett’s Duke teammate Zion Williamson
RJ Barrett isn’t the Dukie that New York Knicks fans wanted to bow down to on draft day.
After posting a league-worst 17-65 record during the 2018-19 NBA season, the New York basketball faithful dreamed of winning the NBA Draft Lottery and the right to select Duke Blue Devils wunderkind Zion Williamson.
Instead, the New Orleans Pelicans won the lottery and will get to pick Williamson first overall at Thursday’s draft.
Knicks nation is not happy.
How angry? Sportsbooks are willing to put odds on it. They are offering a prop wager on whether Knicks fans will boo when the team makes its pick at third overall.
Will New York Knicks Fans Boo the Team’s First Pick in the NBA Draft?
| Will Knicks Fans Boo the Team’s First Pick in the NBA Draft? | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yes | +155 |
| No | -220 |
*All odds taken 06/20/19
New York is expected to draft Williamson’s Duke teammate RJ Barrett.
If They Didn’t Boo, it Wouldn’t Be New York
First of all, let’s put this in perspective. New York fans aren’t Philly fans.
They’ve never booed Santa Claus.
Knicks fans are required by law to boo at the nba draft. Old law Bloomberg made
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) June 22, 2018
The angst of the typical New York sports fan can comes in just a notch below that level. But they sure do like to boo.
At last year’s draft, not all Knicks fans embraced the choice of Kentucky small forward Kevin Knox.
Knicks fans booing Kevin Knox because they wanted Michael Porter Jr pic.twitter.com/FJoP1Wsk2N
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 11, 2018
In 2015, they booed the choice of Kristaps Porzingis at fourth overall.
One young fan was so distraught over the selection, he was moved to tears.
Will Knicks Fans Boo Barrett?
Barrett is a stud. The Duke star has been described as a cross between Paul Pierce and Dywane Wade.
In another year or a Zion-less draft, he might have even been a contender to go first overall.
The majority of the New York fan base gets that. If they boo, it’ll be more about not winning the lottery than it will be a criticism of the talents of Barrett.
Still, there is a constituency of Knicks fans that will boo their pick on draft night.
Bet on it. It’s who they are. It’s what they do.
Pick: Yes (+155)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
