Are Knicks Among the NBA’s Most Hated Teams?

No matter the sport, no matter how bad or good they are - sports teams in New York always have targets on their backs. When you are part of the NBA like the New York Knicks, that target among fellow teams - especially rivals of the Orange and Blue - is more clear and more focused.

EmpireStakes.com – your source for New York sports betting – was interested in determining which NBA teams are the most hated. Using Reddit data from user RemyPLambert, we found the primary and secondary rival of each NBA team with a sample size of 1,000 respondents. If a team was mentioned as a primary rival, that was 10 points. If a team was mentioned as secondary rival, that was 5 points. We then used the final points to rank the most hated NBA teams. (Note: This was completed in April 2023.)

Most Hated NBA Teams

There are many numbers of New York sports betting apps, but you won’t find this chart.

Rank	Team	Teams Naming As Primary Rival	Teams Naming As Secondary Rival	Final Points
1	Boston Celtics	6 teams (60 points)	3 teams (15 points)	75
2	Los Angeles Lakers	4 teams (40 points)	2 teams (10 points)	50
T-3	Memphis Grizzlies	2 teams (20 points)	1 team (5 points)	25
T-3	Miami Heat	2 teams (20 points)	1 team (5 points)	25
T-3	New York Knicks	2 teams (20 points)	1 team (5 points)	25
T-6	Golden State Warriors	2 teams (20 points)	0 teams (0 points)	20
T-6	Denver Nuggets	2 teams (20 points)	0 teams (0 points)	20

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Knicks Finish Tied for 3rd

The Knicks tied for third with the Memphis Grizzlies and hated foe Miami Heat for third with 20 points apiece in the rankings, each having two primary rivals and one secondary one. New York’s primary rivals are the Chicago Bulls - understandable from all of those playoff years with Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and John Starks, along with being the top two cities in the nation - and the Atlanta Hawks, a see-saw rivalry in which Atlanta leads the all-time series, 200-188. However, the Knicks are 9-5 against their Southern counterparts in the postseason.

The Knicks’ secondary rival is the Indiana Pacers, especially when it was Reggie Miller against the Big Apple. New York leads the all-time series, 99-93, with Indiana holding a 22-19 playoffs advantage, including six of their last eight meetings, highlighted by a 4-2 Eastern Conference semifinals series win in the 2013 playoffs.

Two of New York’s other big-time city rivals, the Boston Celtics (75 points) and Los Angeles Lakers (50 points), finished 1-2 in the rankings, respectively. Surprisingly, New York's city neighbor, the Brooklyn Nets, did not make the list.

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BetMGM Sportsbook New York Futures

With less than one month left until the preseason starts, here are the latest BetMGM NY future odds:

To win the Atlantic Division: +800 (third favorite; favorite Celtics -200, Philadelphia 76ers +275)
To win the Eastern Conference: +200 (sixth favorite)
To win the NBA Championship: +5000 (tied with Sacramento Kings for 14th favorite)

If you can believe it, the NBA preseason schedule starts on Thursday, Oct. 5, with the 82-game regular season commencing on Tuesday, Oct. 24. The league’s inaugural in-season tournament begins with group play on Friday, Nov. 3.

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