Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo Creates a Player in New York Knicks Rant

It's gotten to the point where the New York Knicks can't even trade for imaginary players.

Many have called for the New York Knicks to flip their star-crossed fortunes by trading for a superstar. But those masses can't seem to agree on exactly who that superstar should be, leading to conflicting rumors and endless streams of gossip that have heightened uncertainty in the New York basketball landscape.

One thing's for certain: the Knicks won't be trading for Reggie Brown.

If they did, Brown would join the ranks of fictional New York professional athletes like Sidd Finch and Taro Tsujimoto. Whereas the other two, said to be respectively repping the New York Mets and Buffalo Sabres, where elaborate hoaxes, Brown appears to be a simple case of mistaken or misconstrued identity from Chris "Mad Dog" Russo.

The legendary New York sports talk radio host invoked the Knicks' name during his weekly appearance on ESPN's "First Take." Russo embarked on a rant that agreed with TNT analyst Kenny Smith's assessment of the modern Knicks roster, one that agreed with the two-time champion's assertion that New York is never equipped with the best player in any given game. Like Smith, Russo went through the rosters of other Eastern Conference contenders and favorably compared them to the Knicks' current ledger headlined by Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.

Chris "Mad Dog" Russo has been a staple on New York sports radio airwaves for decades / Kirby Lee, USA TODAY SPORTS

“Randle’s a decent player; he’s not a great player. Brunson’s a very, very good player, but he’s not a great player,” Russo said (h/t New York Basketball). “There’s other great players in that conference. (Jimmy) Butler’s a great player, (Jayson) Tatum’s a great player, Reggie Brown’s a great player. (Joel) Embiid’s a great player. There’s too many great players in that conference that the Knicks don’t have.”

No team, however, has "Reggie" Brown: according to Basketball Reference, no player has ever gone by such a name, though it has proven popular in the NFL four different players have had the name, the most recent being a five-year receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles (2005-09). 

It's likely that Russo was trying to refer to Tatum's fellow Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who proved to be a thorn in the Knicks' side on Friday night: he was held scoreless in the first quarter of a 133-123 defeat but wound up scoring 17 points before he was ejected on a pair of technical fouls charged after he argued with officials. 

BoSocked; Knicks Silenced By Porzingis, Boston Celtics

Misconceptions aside, Russo's point was perhaps well-proven with another loss to the Celtics: with the Friday's defeat the Knicks fell to 2-9 against competition that currently carries a winning a record, a tally primarily built by an 0-5 mark against the Eastern Conference leaders from Boston and Milwaukee.

Fortunately for the Knicks they won't have to deal with the Celtics ... or Brown ... any time soon, as their next matchup with Boston is slated for Feb. 24.