The word success hasn't exactly been synonymous with the disenchanted New York Knicks franchise over the last few years. The supposed Mecca of basketball has been plagued by dysfunction and mismanagement — which is a sure-fire recipe for consistent losing.

While the once-respected ‘Bockers have now become the butt of jokes online, ESPN's esteemed insider Adrian Wojnarowski believes their return relevance is actually will be good for the league.

“The Knicks being competitive is important for the NBA” Woj said in the latest episode of The Putback Podcast (via Essentially Sports).

“Just to have a solid (team). Forget about being championship level or a team that’s in the Conference Finals, just a team that is competitive and plays important games at the Garden. We all know how it feels to be in Madison Square Garden when the games matter.”

The Knicks were considered perennial contenders in the '90s and were beloved for their gritty and physical style of basketball.

Nowadays, New York usually flounders right at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Knicks' last playoff appearance dates back to 2013 — when the Carmelo Anthony-led team got eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the second round.

The franchise experienced unsuccessful bids in rebuilding since then, as they were spurned by big-time free agents year after year. Many thought they had a franchise star in Kristaps Porzingis, but the Knicks surprisingly traded him away the moment he wanted out.

Their terrible luck in the draft also attributed greatly to their troubles. The Knicks will be picking 8th in the 2020 Draft, despite fter their disastrous 21-45 record (12th in the East) in the 2019-20 campaign.