I have been a New York Knicks fan since the 2010-2011 NBA season, before the “Linsanity” hype. That is almost 10 years, which is almost most of my life. Being a Knicks fan is a literal rollercoaster ride. If you ask me anything about them right now, I would furiously respond, “They suck”. The time where I started watching the Knicks was probably when they had their best roster ever. Acquiring Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, we had two faces of the franchise, but it was mostly Melo. That is when we had something promising. Tyson Chandler wins defensive player of the year in the ’11-12 season. J.R. Smith wins 6th man of the year during the ’12-13 season along with Carmelo Anthony being the leading scorer in the NBA. Anyways, we were good and on the right path. All good things must come to end thought, right? So here comes Phil Jackson who becomes the New York Knick’s new president. Phil Jackson had an impressive resume and Knicks fans were excited. Little did we know, this man was the most toxic thing that has ever happened to the Knicks. He completely ruined everything and that is when the New York Knicks began to fall into a deep slump. He traded away the entire team, kept Carmelo Anthony, who at the time was a big factor as to why the team was underperforming, and integrated an outdated offensive system that he used when used to coach in the 90’s. We began “rebuild mode” and started “tanking”. The possession we were in meant that we traded away everyone, kept inexpensive players, and lost as many games as possible to get a high draft pick. Being a Knicks fan, this was painful to watch. I had to watch a bunch of random NBA has beens and random g league players wearing knicks uniforms. I felt displacement being a fan of the knicks. I was constantly speaking to my friends about basketball, but was always made fun of for what I liked. I felt as though we had no place in the league. Everything the Knicks have done as an organization has not benefited us enough. The Knicks were always looked at as,”that dysfunctional team”. We had no definite players and we had no hope. This was until the Knicks fire Phil Jackson and acquired Kristaps Porzingis in the 2015 NBA draft with their 4th pick. A 7’3 man from Latvia that everyone overlooked but turned out to be one of the most promising players in the NBA. This was our new franchise players. It was entertaining to see him develop game by game, and how the team started building around him. What was unfortunate was he has been through several injuries, but regardless a great once in a life time talent to watch and have on your team. Everything seemed bright.

On January 31, 2019 around 4:00pm… Kristaps Porzingis was unhappy with the organization and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

Displacement is hard for everyone, no matter how adaptable you are, you will feel the effects of displacement. People often explain the feeling of displacement as a feeling of fear, confusion, and bewilderment. How you manage this feeling is very important. You can either let it bring you down and let it be a barrier between you and success or let it be a learning experience resulting in an opportunity for you to grow.

Displacement strips an individual of their confidence as well as their comfort. Displacement can be pivotable because the decisions you make when you are feeling displaced. Being proactive and making good life decisions will always help in times of displacement. For example, if I was in a situation where I had to relocate to a foreign country, I wouldn’t try to be invisible. Instead, I would recognize the path my life takes is solely in my hands, making a good decision such as learning a new language and finding a new job can help you become a stronger person.

On the contrary, being afraid and stagnant will not allow you to grow. It will keep you in your not-so-comfortable, comfort zone and you will fail to move forward in life.

Adapting a growth mindset is crucial to being successful in the world, as opposed to a fixed mindset which can limit your success. An individual with a growth mindset will understand success isn’t a straight line to the top, in fact success comes with a lot of ups and downs. Many of us have heard the saying, “the greater the setback, the greater the comeback”. Let displacement be an opportunity to mature and flourish.

Good vibes only 🙂 ,

Mutiur Khan

1 – Transition from Mexico to USA.

2 – Loss of a loved one.

3 – Place that is meaningful (boxing gym, park, taco truck.)

1. Moving into a new neighborhood.
2. leave- taking (family)
3. Florida, a meaningful place for m.

1. Being the middle child
2. Going to my country and not being accepted
3. having strict parents while my friends have lenient parents

1. Moving from my old home that I lived in for 14 years to my new place now.

2. Luquillo in Puerto Rico is a meaningful place for me.

3. The way my highschool shaped me in many ways. I’ve been there since I was in 6th grade.

1. I can write about my experience with displacement arriving to New York from California at the age of 6 and how it impacted my life today
2. I can write about my experience leaving the comfort zone I was in during my high school years. The transition from one atmosphere to another and it’s impact on me
3. I can write about my first language which is Spanish, the way this language has been able to open and close doors. I can elaborate on the many ways this language reflects different aspects of myself

1. When my family had to move to the Bronx because the rent in our building was increasing dramatically.
2. When I first came here from the Dominican Republic
3. The National Monument in the Dominican Republic is a meaningful place for me.
4. (Just in case) how knowing 2 different languages shape me

1. Moving out of my old home in Brooklyn and into Queens.
2. Speaking two languages at home and sometimes combining them into one “language”.
3. Being in ESL, and could not see the difference between certain verbs/ why the sentence structures are different in English compared to Chinese.