NBA

Stern wants ‘sparks’ in Knicks-Nets rivalry

It will be, in the eyes of NBA commissioner David Stern, the perfect blend of competition, hatred, geography and, hopefully, TV ratings.

It will be a real rivalry, the Brooklyn Nets versus the New York Knicks.

“I am hoping, for more sparks, a few verbal, some build up,” Stern said before the NBA lottery in Midtown Wednesday night. “We are going to have two spectacular new buildings in New York Cityand we are going to have two very aggressively managed teams.”

Maybe, the league now will have two crowds that actually cheer for their home teams. Whenever the Knicks came into a Nets building, whether the Meadowlands or the Prudential Center, the crowd was typically pro-Knicks. The Nets hope all that will change when they go into the Barclays Center. Of course, a winning team sort of helps.

“We are awaiting the summer to see how the Nets fulfill their assurances and their aspirations, but we have seen the Knicks moving up quite a bit, and I think that we are going to have, two sold-out arenas, not just for games against each other, but for all games,” Stern said. “I’ve been out to Brooklyn. It’s going to be kind of interesting. I’m not sure how much I’m going to drive there, but I’m going to get there and it’s probably easier not to drive.

“And both teams, I think, are awaiting — of course, they are not wishing each other well on the court, but then again, none of our teams wish teams ahead of them well on the court.”

It has been said over and over that to have a rivalry, you need two good teams. As Byron Scott and Jason Kidd always maintained during the Nets’ glory years of two Finals trips, the Nets-Knicks weren’t a real rivalry because the Knicks were so down. Positions changed these past two years. So Stern sees two teams on the upswing — and a “real” rivalry.

“Why not? You know what’s interesting? It’s Brooklyn, New York, but I consider it could be Brooklyn, USA. If it were just Brooklyn, it would be like I think the fifth-largest market in our league,” Stern said. “And Brooklyn … is incredible at all levels of corporate society and life, and there are lots of people, not just Howard Schultz, who are looking forward to going back to a game in their home borough, so to speak.

“I think there’s going to be a real conversation and there are lots of baseball fans that see the Brooklyn Nets as a legitimate successor to the Brooklyn Dodgers. I think that we are going to have a great rivalry.”

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Stern also said he likes the NBA’s chances in the Jeremy Lin–Steve Novak arbitration hearing June 13.

“We believe that the position that we are espousing here is the one that the contract says is the one and that the arbitrator will confirm,” Stern said.

The Players Association says players like Lin and Novak who were claimed off waivers should retain their Bird rights, which allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own players. The league contends that move applies only to players who are traded. The Knicks want an arbitration win in order to maintain their mid-level exception and sign another free agent while keeping both Lin and Novak.