If you believe in sports as a civic trust, there is no inherent relationship between the team's general manager/president/director of operations and the fan base. GM – (when we simplify this by calling the decision maker of a franchise a GM, regardless of what the official title is) – it earns him the trust of his fans. Sports satisfaction as allowed by law.
Now, that appears to be the position Leon Rose will hold for the Knicks. And he earned it. Rose did something that went wrong along the way – Hello Evan Fournier. Hello, Kemba Walker – but if you describe his tenure thus far in shooter terms, he's a 50/40/90 guy (like field goals, 3s, and free throws).
He hits far more than he misses. He added two starting All-Stars over the past few years. He waited for the right time to strike, but many of them happened at a knowing stage. However, all of the original five members have been acquired in the past three years. This is his team. It may be imperfect and in time, for all the good moments, they may say they never won a title together, but that's for the future.
As of now, it's hard to find a Knicks fan who doesn't fully trust Rose. There are a lot of people who don't have the same warm respect for the way Tom Thibodeau coaches his team. Knicks fans will be in a constant state of waiting as long as James L. Dolan is the owner.
