The Knicks Fix

Leadership is action, not position. -- Author Unknown

Steve Francis and Josh Childress both left the Phillips Arena parking lot at the same time after Saturday's game. Childress, of course, let Francis drive right by him to the exit.

I watched Stevie Wonder throughout that game with a very cynnical eye on his sudden turnaround, from ready to hang up his sneakers for the season to hanging on the rim as he posed for the Knick bench after a steal and dunk. Initially, all you want to do is carve up a guy for what appears to be a lack of interest in being a role player on a team that is on the playoff bubble. How he talked about wanting to be there for his teammates in one breath and then suggested playing even 10 minutes a night would be bad for the longterm health of his knee.

What Francis is doing now can't be defined as stepping up and being a leader or showing veteran grit. No, it's called opportunity. Now that there is a bigger role for him to fill -- after Jamal Crawford's injury -- Francis has suddenly decided it was worth the longterm risk to play.

Clearly he didn't want to sit the bench behind others and play a supporting role, which is what veterans such as Malik Rose, Jerome James and Kelvin Cato have done all season. We challenged Thomas for those 10 games where James started at power forward but barely played five minutes, but James never said a word. He gave what he had and when he went to the bench he offered his support to his teammates. Same for Rose, who has gone many nights without getting into a game and then has come in to take on challenges such has defending Shaq with every ounce of energy he has. And on the bench he's there with words of encouragement and advice.

Kelvin Cato hasn't even dressed for most games, but he, too, is very active during games. If he's not talking trash to the opposing players, he's grabbing a rookie such as Renaldo Balkman and giving him advice and suggestions during timeouts.

To be fair, Francis has done much of the same when he has been on the Knick bench, but it is reasonable to question his unwillingness to wear the uniform and accept a limited role. Is it the taunting from opposing fans around the Knick bench, who remind Francis that his superstar status has plummeted like Britney Spears? Get over it.

Fans and teammates are always quick to forgive, so if Francis can continue to provide points and assists and, most of all, minutes, and help lead the Knicks to a playoff berth, no one will care that a week ago he was leaning toward calling it a season.

But it shouldn't be forgotten.

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Quick good-on-ya to my buddy Brandon Tierney, a Brooklyn boy who lived a childhood dream by calling his first Knicks game as the play-by-play man on Saturday's radio broadcast. Sure, it was a fill-in spot, but B.T., who usually does the pregame show, was excited and admittedly had butterflies. I'm sure by overtime, the butterflies were chased away by pure adrenaline.