One of my favorite parts about sports is that we can pretend things like “karma” and “destiny” really exist. And maybe they do, but nowhere else in life do we talk of these things in such certain terms.

And as sports karma goes, the New York Knicks are like the exact opposite of the Indian kid in Slumdog Millionaire. Oh, you mean it’s not smart for a fanbase to openly concede an entire season, while the media and management openly pine for 2010? That has a negative effect on the players? Really?

Really. Right now, the Knicks are in the midst of being de-pantsed in spectacular fashion by no less than the Milwaukee Bucks, a team best described as “Brandon Jennings, etc.” And however incomplete, that combination in Milwaukee is up 31 points against the Knicks, who you might call “2010 Cap Space, etc.”

But should any of this really be surprising? It’s the laws of the sports universe, right?