Why do we need two NBA teams in New York?

Watching the Knicks play the Brooklyn Nets on television Friday night, I could have sworn I was watching a preseason game between both teams instead of their second regular season games of the season at Barclays Center.

No way those two teams were playing for bragging rights. No way those two teams were playing for the back page of the daily tabloids. No way those two teams were playing for building a foundation to start the season with.

Last night felt like an evening at the opera. The Knicks received marginal cheers while the Nets had cheers that were worthy of a golf clap. Obviously, both teams have work to do to be relevant in New York after watching the Nets’ 107-105 victory over the Knicks.

We know the Knicks can get fans back once they start winning and contending for championship. If Kevin Knox develops into a star, the interest on the Knicks will be back. No one can say the same thing about the Nets in this town.

Of all the teams that don’t get mentioned here the most, it’s the Nets. That’s even when they were contending for championships during the Jason Kidd era. They were in existence in the NBA since 1976 as they came from the ABA, and they never were talked about ever here by the media and they never into the mind of a New York sports fan. Ask anyone about the Nets, and the reaction would be a quizzed look.

If no one cares about the Nets then and now, when will anyone care?

This idea that the Nets will be popular when they become good does not fly because they have had good teams and no one cares. This idea the Nets are building for young fans from the next generation is way far-fetched because with the advent of NBA League Pass and so many teams being on ESPN, TNT and NBATV, fans can latch on to other teams easily than watch the Nets. Plus, the Nets have to battle for the Knicks to earn respect from people here, and it’s been a fruitless battle.

If fans can’t get worked up about an entertaining brand and a winning product during the Kidd era, why should we ever think that New Yorkers will ever care about the Nets? Moving to Brooklyn from New Jersey has always been a reach. The Knicks have created a brand for generations, and as bad they have been for two decades, their history is good enough where fans can get back to them if they ever become a good team.

There are way too many sports teams in the tri-state area. Fans are not going to waste time watching a team that has nothing to offer.

There’s nothing endearing about the Nets. There’s no star power on this team for anyone to watch. I couldn’t even name five guys on the roster if someone had to ask me. I did not know Caris LeVert was on the Nets roster until I recognized he beat Tim Hardaway Jr. to the hoop in making that game-winning layup against the Knicks with one second left in the game. Shoot, I never even heard of him prior to Friday night.

Even if the Nets eventually build a foundation, what free agent would want to come play for them? The Nets have had delusions of grandeur about New York and Barclays Center being a powerful recruiting tool for free agents. They are at it again with this idea Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler could be swayed to play for them next year when they are free agents.

Good luck to that. There’s no way Butler, Irving or Kevin Durant would have interest in playing second fiddle to the Knicks by playing for the Nets. No one is going to care about the Nets even if they sign a free agent. When the Nets attempted to build a super team in 2013, no one cared, and that season became an unmitigated disaster with Jason Kidd being over his head as coach, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce showing their age and disinterest and Deron Williams being a surly brat.

It begs this question: Why do we need two NBA teams in New York City? It’s an overkill.

The NBA is a terrible product. There are way too many teams, and there is only one team good enough to win a championship. The time has come now for contraction. Let other teams get better by taking other teams’ players, so that the Golden State Warriors can get some competition for a championship. The games would be more entertaining that way.

No one wants to waste a Friday night watching the Nets face the Knicks or the Atlanta Hawks face the Memphis Grizzlies. So many unwatchable games because the league is watered down.

If the Nets ever get contracted, no one here would care. As a matter of fact, no one would notice. No one in Brooklyn wanted them in the first place, and the fine folks of New Jersey were more than happy to see the Nets leave to greener pastures of the city.

This is all you need to know right there.

The Nets may have gotten the back page of the tabloids for the win against the Knicks Friday night. They may have gotten their five minutes of fame on the local sportscasts.

But in the end, no one care, and no one ever will.