The ‘Nova Knicks’ next big challenge: Great expectations with the addition of Mikal Bridges

NEW YORK — Patrick Ewing and Co. could not get the brass ring. Neither could later Knicks teams that featured Stephon Marbury, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, or Jeremy Lin.

For Knicks fans counting at home, the championship drought is 51 years and counting, but one Knicks legend thinks that streak may finally come to an end, courtesy of a Villanova assist.

“I think this is going to be our year,” said Walt “Clyde” Frazier, who played on that 1972-73 Knicks title team, during a panel on the first day of Fanatics Fest on Aug. 16 at the Javits Center. “Obviously, health is going to play a big factor. If the Knicks can stay healthy, I think we can get back to our former grandeur.”

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Those Knicks’ salad days came when Richard Nixon was still in the White House and decades before the one-time Villanova trio of Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart — now Knicks teammates — were born.

The 2023-24 Knicks booted the 76ers from the postseason in the first round and then got as far as Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals before Indiana won in a rout to advance. Brunson carried the Knicks during the postseason, averaging 32.4 points, while Hart and DiVincenzo logged heavy playoff minutes (42.1 and 35.8 per game) because of other injuries on the roster.

Now the Knicks will have another ’Nova cog in the mix after adding Mikal Bridges in an offseason trade. Yes, the same Bridges the Sixers drafted in the first round (10th pick) in 2018 before immediately trading him to Phoenix for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-round pick. How’s that working out?

The basketball pundits, well maybe just the Knicks pundits, already are bellowing that Bridges is the final piece needed for the club to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

“I’m excited for Mikal, for sure,” said Brunson, who joined Frazier, Hart, Oscar-winning director Spike Lee, and actor Ben Stiller on the Fanatics panel. “I’ve said it so many times, but I’ll give you a little idea of who he is — what he brings is, he just fits the puzzle perfectly. He can do whatever you ask him to, and then more. To say who he is as a person, that man got off the plane from London [on a Thursday] night, and then he was in the gym [Friday] morning, bright and early. That should tell you everything you need to know about him.”

Bridges, a Great Valley High School graduate, was part of two Villanova NCAA championship teams (2016, 2018) along with Brunson and DiVincenzo. Hart was on the 2016 ’Nova title team. The championship experience is there, and now the ’Nova Knicks face even greater expectations with Bridges aboard.

Just ask Lee.

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“The Knicks have always mattered. I’m older than a lot of people in the audience,” Lee said during the panel. “I grew up with Clyde [Frazier]. He was my guy way back in the day. So I think that the time is now.”

Frazier, 79, said he sees a lot of similarities between Brunson — who was named Knicks captain earlier this summer — and the late Willis Reed.

“[Brunson] has definitely got a chance to be one of the greatest Knicks ever,” Frazier said. “He reminds me a lot of Willis Reed. They’re both lefties. They have a tenacious work ethic. They’re always sharing and caring and have a team-first concept.”

Stiller, a courtside regular at Madison Square Garden like Lee, added that for many years the Knicks have “been without an identity.”

Not anymore. The ’Nova Knicks are here.