Mallory Edens, the NBA Draft lottery sensation and 18-year old daughter of the Bucks new owner, is actually a diehard Knicks fan. She attended about 15 to 20 games at the Garden this season and according to a close friend she possesses a trove of Knicks apparel.
Edens, who sat on the dais representing the Bucks at Tuesday’s lottery, is a senior at Trevor Day School on the Upper West Side, graduating next month and is in her fifth season on the girls’ basketball team. She also runs track and plans to compete for the cross-country team at Princeton next fall, according to the friend.
Edens sat next to Sixers’ legend Julius Erving at the lottery when the Bucks landed the second pick and became an overnight Internet sensation.
Wesley Edens, a Manhattan hedge-fund investor, bought the Bucks last month and has said he will keep the team in Milwaukee. The family has had Knicks’ season tickets in recent years. Edens said jokingly to his children he would make them “burn’’ their Knicks gear, but never went through with the threat. Edens has three siblings.
“The family are huge Knicks fans, so they’re not making the kids give that up,’’ the friend said. “She has tons of Knicks stuff. She’s allowed to own it and wear it. The dad is not in any way stopping them from being Knicks fans also.’’
“Now that her dad bought the team, she’s obviously a big Bucks fan but she always has and always will love the Knicks as well.”
Edens’ Twitter following rose from 250 followers to more than 45,000 in two days.
“It’s like obviously weird for her, but she’s not like panicking,’’ the friend said. “She’s not like an attention seeker so it’s a bit weird, but she’s generally pretty well-composed.’’
Her two favorite Knicks are Tim Hardaway Jr. and Carmelo Anthony, the friend said. The Bucks finished with the league’s worst record but now have a shot at adding either Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins or Joel Embiid with the draft’s second pick.
As for how she was selected to represent the Bucks, Mallory said after the lottery ended, “[My father] sort of brought it up in passing one time and I thought he was joking and then here I am so I suppose it wasn’t a joke.’’