That leaves Knicks players wishing, like almost everyone else in the country, that they had a shorter commute. “It would be nice,” Smith said. “I feel like everybody in here feels like that.”

“It’s essentially a road game,” Payton said. “Where I grew up and where I went to college at, it’s a two-hour drive. Some days it takes me an hour and a half to get to the Garden. It’s like I’m driving to college every day. To play a game.” After players sign with the Knicks, 11-29 this season, they usually choose one of two areas to live in. There is Manhattan, with all its luster, great restaurants, famous sights and proximity to MSG. And there is Westchester County, a quiet suburb north of the city, with more land, cheaper rent, less of everything above and a quick drive to the practice facility.

In some years, the roster has split between the two locations. This season, the vast majority live in the White Plains area. The reasoning is sound: The Knicks practice more than they play and the ones who live nearby have a shorter trip to and from the facility, generally 10-20 minutes. There are a few perks, too. The team flies in and out of Westchester County Airport.

“I feel bad for the guys after the game,” Gibson said. “They gotta drive back still and deal with traffic still. It’s pick your poison.”

Langston Galloway played two seasons with the Knicks, and if he had stayed for a third, he was ready to leave the Westchester area for Manhattan. He developed a routine, leaving two hours before he had to be on the court to get to the arena on time. This was after repeated attempts at finding a shortcut. “I tried cutting through Harlem,” he said. “Tried either going the West side or the East side. Psh, none of it. None of it worked. It all was pretty much the same distance. You couldn’t get around that traffic. You had to go through it.”

“You’re almost tired from that just getting to the game,” Ellenson said of commuting to the Garden. He added: “The nice thing about being in Brooklyn is you’re in Brooklyn. It’s tough because sometimes I was out in White Plains and people didn’t realize, ‘What’s a Knicks player doing out here?’ I’ve had a couple of people ask me that. We actually practice out here. While in Brooklyn, we’re in the city. That’s been the cool thing for me, I’m right downtown.”

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