The battle for New York begins. The Knicks have always had a firm grip on the city as far as basketball was concerned, but now there is a new team in town and they are proving to be no joke. Brooklyn has added plenty of heavy weights to the starting lineup as well as quality depth this offseason, leaving newly signed Paul Pierce confident the Nets will take over the city. However, Knicks point guard Raymond Felton thinks that is a total joke.
"They will never take over the city. Because we've got 'New York' on our chest," Felton said, via EPSN. "They've got 'Brooklyn' on their chest, and we've got 'New York.' They'll never take over the city."
The reaction was spawned from a radio interview Pierce did with ESPN New York where he expressed his hatred toward the Knicks ever since he was in Boston and claimed the Nets would begin to run the city over the Knicks.
"Everybody knows how much I disliked the Knicks when I was with the Celtics, but I think it's grown to another level," Pierce said on ESPN NewYork 98.7 FM's "The Michael Kay Show." "I think it's time for the Nets to start running this city."
The headline grabbing statements just added gas to the fire of the growing rivalry between the two teams.
"He's just trying to talk, talk, talk, to fuel the rivalry, which is good. I love it," said Felton. "I think it's good for us, it's good for the whole state, it's good. So, whatever -- I love it. I don't really pay no attention to what Paul is saying."
Both the Nets and the Knicks made significant roster improvements this season. The Nets added Kevin Garnett, Pierce, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko. The Knicks signed Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace. On paper, Brooklyn is the better team with a starting lineup that already included Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez.
Felton understands that Pierce's comments were not meant to be malicious, but just something to get the fans talking and make people excited. New York has not had a deep rivalry like this. The Nets made the playoffs last year in their first season in Brooklyn and after the roster additions, they plan on making Pierce's statements true.