Every now and then a person walks across the wasteland of words with the ability to capture concepts that most people struggle with. The words transcend personal bias, superficial glances and cause one to think from a different angle. For that moment, the reader puts aside his prejudice and opens his mind to learn something new. There may not be a response for a moment, or a day. The reader has been educated.

It's called journalism.

"I know that adding Carmelo Anthony, in and of itself, doesn't make the Knicks a title contender now or in the future. I know that they'll only reach that level by making other moves, which will be significantly more difficult given the amount of money Anthony's extension will pay him over the next four years. I know that, as Dwyer wrote when the deal went down, "this moment doesn't promise anything beyond what it's already given" to fans like me.

But it's still OK to actually enjoy what moments like the trade itself — and the game-winner against the Grizzlies, and those third-quarter explosions against the Magic and the Nets, or any other specific instance of exultation that you might savor — do give us, right? To appreciate those moments without believing they'll ultimately be meaningless if they don't result in rings?

We can take it as read that successful sports teams, like successful ventures in any walk of life, are most frequently built by addressing needs rather than chasing wants, and by having the wisdom not to confuse the two. It's not a difficult concept to grasp, especially when you root for a team that's sucked for a decade pretty much entirely because it's been a case study in screwing that up and continually succumbing to ill-considered desires.

But while I understand that the point of being an NBA team is to win an NBA championship, it seems like the point of being an NBA fan is to enjoy watching NBA basketball — to revel in the myriad joys the league can provide, whether it's the big one that ends with a trophy being raised or the countless little ones along the way, like experiencing something fresh, watching unfamiliar elements combine to potentially create an exciting new thing, or even just seeing some great plays that make you jump out of your seat. It'd be a real bummer if we decided those things didn't really count without the validation of a title, and that the only real fandom is reducing everything to a championship-or-bust bottom line.

It's very, very possible that Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire will never win a championship as members of the New York Knicks. If that's what winds up happening, I will be all kinds of sad about it, and I will continue to hope that I'll get to see the Knicks win a title before I die. But given their talents and their flair for the dramatic, it seems to me a good bet that one, the other, or both will at some point — regular season, postseason, whatever — author a moment that makes Madison Square Garden explode with joy, a play that cuts to the core of our fandom and helps explain to people like my fiancée why we as fans care the way we do.

It'll be a moment worth watching. I just hope we can hear it, too."

- Dan Devine

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/On-Carmelo-Anthony-wants-needs-and-fans-pursu?urn=nba-339735