The New York Knicks have a little-known secret weapon on their bench.
It’s not what you think it is.
It happens seemingly a half-dozen times per game. A soft foul or a 50-50 out-of-bounds play causes an army of players to make a twirling motion with their pointer fingers.
This didn’t exist prior to a few years ago, but when the coach’s challenge was introduced in 2019-20, it was revolutionary for basketball, but simultaneously led to more complaining from players and a common ritual of staring back at the bench asking to use a challenge.