So perhaps it makes sense that the current iteration of passionate Knicks fandom is an online community run by an economist and engineer who conducts research on driverless cars and lives in Connecticut.

By night, J. B. Bellone is the tweeter in chief for the Knicks Film School website, which features original content, film breakdowns, curated news and a podcast that began just before the season.

As the Knicks took the court Wednesday night against the 76ers, Bellone was in position. The game in Philadelphia was on his computer screen. The game feed on his iPad was set to 30 seconds behind the live action, so he could watch every significant moment twice. With two phones on hand and a Knicks-centric Twitter stream scrolling on his monitor, Bellone was ready for tipoff and eager to engage with fans.

Bellone’s background as an economist helps with statistical analysis, especially when it comes to the breakdown of defensive film and salary-cap issues. His engineering chops come into play with site design, coding and social media aggregation. But the site is rooted in the perspective of a fan. Contributors do not request news media credentials.

“The coverage of the Knicks in this city can be very hot-takey, and we wanted to produce content that was nuanced but also honest,” said Jonathan Macri, a special-education teacher in Brooklyn and the site’s lead writer and podcast host. “We always said, if the team screws up or plays badly, we would be the first ones to call it out. But like anything else in life, there’s usually more to the story than many other outlets portray. We wanted to always cover those bases.”

Knicks Film School started as a Twitter account that Bellone opened in May 2017 and ran on his own until October, when he started the website with Marci. It does not generate income, and everyone who contributes is a volunteer.