An incredulous Jeff Van Gundy found it tough to come to terms with the New York Knicks' misery upon missing out on their top two free agent targets in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, as they made their way across the bridge to the Brooklyn Nets.

The former coach of the franchise, who admittedly still roots for the Knicks, knows a whiff of this magnitude hurts the organization in seismic ways, after basing their entire 2018-19 season in the prospect of acquiring these two stars.

“That’s the punch to the gut,” said Van Gundy, according to David Waldstein of The New York Times. “If you would have told me that two free-agent stars were going to choose New York and both would choose the Nets over the Knicks, I never would have believed it.”

The Knicks were already bad enough to tank for last place under their starting roster, but they traded Kristaps Porzingis in a kamikaze-like move to open up cap space to pair Durant with another max-level star.

There was nothing suggesting Durant wouldn't want to play with the 7-foot-3 unicorn, yet the Knicks gambled — and lost big.

Not only did the sheer dysfunction in the franchise became evident, but the lack of talent, direction, and overall appeal were factors that ultimately made Durant take a strong look at the Nets, their front office build, their recent playoff success, and the prospect of playing alongside two of his friends in Irving and DeAndre Jordan.