That, my friends, is the glorious sound of Mike D'Antoni, innovator of offense (champion of the sun, master of karate and friendship for everyone) resigning.
You read that right. Mike D'Antoni has given up on the Knicks, according to a report from deadline dynamo Adrian Wojnarowski. If Mike D'Antoni couldn't form an offensive juggernaut out of the players on that roster, really, who can? It's that bad, people.
Mike Woodson will reportedly replace D'Antoni as the head coach, the same Mike Woodson who couldn't take a stacked Hawks roster past the early rounds of the East playoffs. I'm already shaking in my boots.
Remember why this matters? The Rockets own New York's pick in this year's draft. As if D'Antoni's exit alone isn't fantastic enough, it comes within 24 hours of a deal that gives the Milwaukee Bucks — currently fighting off the Knicks for the eighth seed in the East — two good players in Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh at the expense of one Stephen Jackson, seeing as Andrew Bogut was already set to miss the remainder of the season.
As you can see, we're slowly beginning to drift away from following actual basketball. And while games like last night's victory in Oklahoma City can keep us interested for the time being, you have to admit, these off-the-court happenings are impossible to ignore. We can only hope that pick keeps falling (but not too far) and that Houston gets a shot at a top-ten player in this year's draft. Best be sure, the ongoing Limpolision will surely do nothing to Melo out our best wishes.
Update: I'll add this, because I've seen a lot of people say D'Antoni's exit will solve NY's problems: The Knicks haven't played that badly. They've lost a lot of road games against good opponents and they almost beat the Bulls in Chicago the other night. D'Antoni hadn't figured the team out just yet, but I think he had more of a chance to solve the problem than someone like Mike Woodson will. Again, the fact that D'Antoni just gave up on this team speaks volumes. To him, it was an unsolvable problem.