Bing Bong is Dead

Knicks fans came into this season with a new level of excitement after finally making the playoffs last year and making some great signings like replacing Elfrid Payton—the worst player in NBA history—with Kemba Walker. So after a huge blowout of the Orlando Magic, it made sense that fans lost their fucking minds.

Knicks Season Opener pic.twitter.com/RkzFM5O1pi

— Sidetalk (@sidetalknyc) October 21, 2021

The random BING BONG at the 23-second mark of this video quickly became a rallying cry for the fans. An ‘if you know, you know’ catchphrase for the real ones and by real ones I mean people very online or just like, people who frequent the Desus and Mero Reddit.

But like everything given to us by the internet, it is quickly taken away by brands and old TV personalities who are ‘ironically’ using Bing Bong to wink at Knicks fans. a ‘See, we’re hip to the jive too’.

You always feel gross participating in ANYTHING that Barstool attempts to put on a t-shirt. You want to know when a joke dies? Just head over to KFC Barstool’s Twitter account and see if he’s joining in on it.

This is an annual tradition though. Whether it’s Julius Randle declaring the Knicks have a ‘Big 15’ when asked about going against the Brooklyn Nets ‘Big 3’ or #Knickstape from the weird-ass Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert teams. When the Knicks are playing well, you can expect a new phrase to rise and die within a week of that excitement.

Bing Bong had legs though. Even Hall of Fame broadcaster, Mike Breen, hit us with a Bing Bong after a Julius Randle 3.

🗣 “BING BONG!”

Julius Randle banks in the triple to finish Q1 with 18 PTS on NBA TV!

💻: https://t.co/E0TqX69c2f pic.twitter.com/VKXHIMstsx

— NBA (@NBA) November 2, 2021

King shit.

But that rallying cry dies when the team struggles. The Knicks have lost 2 games in a row and dropped from the best team in the East to 6th in a 4-day stretch. Their defense is ranked 25th in the NBA. Their scheme is broken.

The Knicks lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round last season because they could not score in the half-court so it made all the sense in the world to sign Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier.

Unfortunately, they are atrocious perimeter defenders.

They cannot fight through screens which forces Mitch Robinson and Nerlens Noel to come down and hedge picks thus leaving the rim protection to Julius Randle who is not a rim protector in any form or fashion.

And now every time a team beats the Knicks, the team’s social media manager mocks them with a bing bong tweet.

I’m not having fun anymore. Someone play defense so I can shout Bing Bong at the grocery store again.