When I was handed the Knicks beat-writing job in 2012, I didn’t know which direction my career was headed.

I was 24, had just covered the Jets for a season, and felt I’d been treading water the entire time. My stories seemingly didn’t stand out there, or connect with readers. I struggled to come up with ideas. I got the impression my bosses were underwhelmed with my work. And at the front of my mind, I was thinking: Maybe it’s time to move back over to news reporting or to look for another job elsewhere. Ask my dad, and he’ll tell you we had several conversations that summer where I questioned whether I was good enough to do this.

Then I started covering the Knicks, and my life changed.

While I wouldn’t say that change stemmed entirely from good fortune — I spent dozens of hours that summer watching clips of the guys I was going to be covering, took more time studying their individual stats and thought about how I could differentiate my coverage from counterparts who’d covered the team for years — having such a fun assignment made an enormous difference. So I owe my editors at the Journal a huge thank you; not only for taking a chance on me straight out of college, but for grooming me, finding the right role for me and giving me the space to be creative and find my voice as a writer.



I say it often, but calling the Knicks beat a “job,” when it’s been everything I could imagine and more, seems silly. That someone’s been willing to pay me to analyze such a great sport, and such colorful personalities, is a blessing. Covering Rasheed Wallace, Kurt Thomas, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin in the same year, and then having Metta World Peace thrown in for good measure the following season? I’ll never forget that. Nor will I forget how fans quickly embraced my efforts to use statistics and write outside the box — something I don’t take for granted, since I never felt that sort of connection with fans when I covered the NFL.

So for as much as I playfully joke about it on social media, let me be clear about one thing: The Knicks, and more so the die-hard fans who read about them, have always let me be great. They gave me confidence at a time when I wasn’t sure I could be great. I’ll always remember that.

To the readers — the hundreds who’ve emailed over the years, and probably even more who’ve tweeted support for how I go about my work — thanks for proving that the saying is true: That if you can make it here in New York, you can make it anywhere. That’s the mantra I’ll take with me to the next job as I write for a national audience, fully confident that I can connect with even more basketball fans; even ones who root for different teams in other cities.

Thank you for everything, and let’s get a smoothie before I move on to the next challenge.





Always,



Chris Herring