From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia
- For the 19th century baseball team, see New
York Knickerbockers.
| New York Knicks |
|
|
| Conference |
Eastern
Conference |
| Division |
Atlantic
Division |
| Founded |
1946
(Charter member of the BAA,
later NBA) |
| History |
New York Knicks
(1946-present) |
| Arena |
Madison
Square Garden |
| City |
New
York City |
| Team Colors |
Blue and Orange |
| Head Coach |
Larry
Brown |
| Owner |
Cablevision |
| Championships |
2 (1970,
1973) |
| Conference Titles |
8 (1951,
1952,
1953,
1970,
1972,
1973,
1994,
1999) |
| Division Titles |
8 (1953,
1954,
1970,
1971,
1989,
1992,
1993,
1994) |
The New York Knicks (or New York Knickerbockers)
are a National
Basketball Association team based in New
York, New York.
- Primary logo design: The words "NEW YORK
KNICKS" (with "KNICKS" being larger than the other
two words) above a basketball on top of an upturned
isosceles triangle. The design is featured on
the Knicks uniform shorts. This is a modernized
version of the "roundball" logo the Knicks have
used since 1964.
- Other logo designs: The Knicks also use
a circular emblem, with the letters NYK, designed
to look like a subway token. From the late 1960s
to 1990, the Knicks used an orange interlocking
NY logo -- the same design as on the New
York Yankees' jerseys --on their warmup jackets
and later their shorts; it remains on their throwback-uniform
shorts.
- 2005-06 Record: 15-42 (as of 3
March 2006)
- Main Rival(s): Indiana
Pacers, Chicago
Bulls, Miami
Heat, New
Jersey Nets, Boston
Celtics and Philadelphia
76ers.
Home arenas
- Old Madison Square Garden (1946-1967)
- Madison
Square Garden (1967 - present)
Franchise history
The Knicks are one of only two teams
of the original National Basketball Association
still located in its original city (the other being
the Boston
Celtics). The Basketball Association of America
and the National
Basketball League merged in 1949 to form the
NBA.
The Early Years
The Knicks' (and the NBA's) first
game was on November 1, 1946 against the Toronto
Huskies at Toronto's
Maple
Leaf Gardens, where the Knicks won by the score
of 68-66. The Knicks were consistent playoff contenders
in their early years, thanks to players like Harry
"The Horse" Gallatin, Dick
McGuire and Nat
"Sweetwater" Clifton, one of the first black
players in the league. During the first decade of
the NBA's existence, the Knicks made the NBA
Finals in three straight years (1951-1953),
and they were respected by basketball players and
fans. For the remainder of the 1950's, the Knicks
would field decent, if not spectacular teams, and
made the playoffs in 1955, 1956 (where they lost
a one-game playoff to the Syracuse
Nationals) and 1959.
The Lean Years
From 1960 to 1966, the Knicks fell
on hard times, and they finished last in the NBA's
Eastern Division each year. Some of the biggest
losses in Knicks history occurred during this time.
One such game occurred on November
15, 1960,
where they lost to the Los
Angeles Lakers by a score of 162-100. Another
notable loss occurred on March
3, 1962,
as the Philadelphia
Warriors' Wilt
Chamberlain scored a NBA-record 100 points against
the Knicks, and the Warriors won the game 169-147.
The Championship Years
During the Knicks' slide into futility,
there were signs of better things to come. In 1964,
the Knicks drafted Willis
Reed, who went on to become 1965's NBA
Rookie of the Year. In 1967, right after the
Knicks made it to the playoffs for the first time
since 1959, the Knicks hired Red
Holzman as their head coach. With Holzman at
the helm, and young players such as Bill
Bradley and Walt
"Clyde" Frazier, the Knicks were playoff teams
again in 1968. The next season, the team acquired
Dave
DeBusschere from the Detroit
Pistons, and the team went 54-28. In the ensuing
playoffs, the team made it past the first round
of the playoffs for the first time since 1953, sweeping
the Baltimore
Bullets in three games, before falling to the
Boston
Celtics in the Eastern Division finals.
In the 1969-70 season, the Knicks
had a then-NBA record 18 straight victories en route
to 60-22 record, which was the best regular season
record in the team's history. After defeating the
Bullets in the Eastern Division semifinals and the
Milwaukee
Bucks in the Eastern Division finals, the Knicks
defeated the Los
Angeles Lakers in seven games to capture their
first NBA title. Without question, the defining
moment in the series occurred in Game 7, where an
injured Reed limped onto the court right before
the start of the game. He scored the game's first
two baskets before sitting out for the remainder
of the contest. Despite his absence for most of
the game, Reed's heroics inspired the team, and
they won the game by a score of 113-99.
The Knicks' success continued for
the next few years. After losing to the Bullets
in the 1971 Eastern Conference finals, the team,
aided by the acquisitions of Jerry
Lucas and Earl
"The Pearl" Monroe, returned to the Finals in
1972. This time the Knicks fell to the Lakers in
five games. The next year, the results were reversed,
as the Knicks defeated the Lakers in five games
to win their second NBA title. The team had one
more impressive season in 1973-74, as they reached
the Eastern Conference finals, where they fell in
five games to the Celtics. It was after this season
that Reed announced his retirement, and the team's
fortunes took turn for the worse.
The Knicks After The Championship
Years
In the 1974-75 season, the Knicks
posted a 40-42 record, their first losing record
in eight seasons. However, the record still qualified
them for a playoff spot, though the Knicks lost
to the Houston
Rockets in the first round. After two more seasons
with losing records, Holtzman was replaced behind
the bench by Reed. In Reed's first year coaching
the team, they posted a 43-39 record and made it
to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they
were swept by the Philadelphia
76ers. The next season, after the team got off
to a 6-8 start, Holtzman was rehired as the team's
coach. The team did not fare any better that season,
finishing with a 31-51 record, their worst in thirteen
years.
After improving to a 39-43 record
in the 1979-1980 season, the Knicks posted 50-32
record in the 1980-1981 season. In the ensuing playoffs,
the Chicago
Bulls swept them in two games. Holtzman retired
the following season as one of the winningest coaches
in NBA history. Ironically, the team's record for
that year was a dismal 33-49.
Hubie
Brown replaced Holtzman as coach of the Knicks,
and in his first season, the team went 44-38 and
make it to the second round of the playoffs, where
they were swept by the eventual champion Philadelphia
76ers. The next season, the team, aided by new
acquisition Bernard
King, improved to a 47-35 record and returned
to the playoffs. The team beat the Detroit Pistons
in the first round with an overtime win in the fifth
and deciding game, before losing in second round
once again, this time in seven games to the Celtics.
The team's fortunes again turned for the worse the
next season, as they lost their last twelve games
to finish with a 24-58 record. The first of these
losses occurred on March
23, 1985,
where King injured his knee and spent the next 24
months in rehabilitation. Some figured that his
career would end from this injury, but he proved
them wrong and resumed his career near the end of
the 1986-87 season.
The Patrick Ewing Era
As a result of the Knicks' dismal
performance in the 1984-85 season, the team was
entered into the first-ever NBA
Draft Lottery. The team ended up winning the
number one pick in that year's NBA
Draft, selecting star center
Patrick
Ewing of Georgetown
University. To this day, there are some who
believe that the lottery was fixed, as each of the
seven non-playoff
teams in the lottery were given an equal chance
of receiving the first pick, and the prevailing
theory is that the Knicks won based on the fact
that they play in the biggest media market in the
United States.
In Ewing's first season with the
Knicks, he led all rookies in scoring (20 points
per game) and rebounds
(9 rebounds per game), and he won the NBA
Rookie of the Year Award. The team wouldn't
fare as well, though, as they posted a 23-59 record
in his first season, and a 24-58 record in his second
season.
The team's luck changed in the 1987-88
season with the hiring of Rick
Pitino as head coach, and selection of point
guard Mark
Jackson in the draft.
Combined with Ewing's consistently stellar play,
the Knicks made the playoffs with a record of 38-44,
where they lost to the Celtics in the first round.
The team would do even better the next season as
the team traded backup center Bill
Cartwright for power
forward Charles
Oakley before the season started and then posted
a 52-30 record, which was good enough for their
first division title in nearly twenty years. In
the playoffs, they defeated the 76ers in the first
round before losing to the Chicago
Bulls in the Eastern
Conference semifinals.
Before the 1989-90 season began,
a couple of major changes occurred. Pitino left
the Knicks to coach the University
of Kentucky's basketball team and Stu
Jackson was named head coach. The Knicks went
47-32 and defeated the Celtics in the first round
of the playoffs, winning the final three games after
losing the first two. They went on to lose to the
eventual NBA champion Detroit
Pistons in the next round. In the 1990-91 season,
the team, who hired John
McLeod as head coach early that season, had
a 39-43 record and were swept by the eventual NBA
champion Bulls.
Sensing that the team needed a better
coach in order to become a champsionship contender,
new Knicks president Dave
Checketts hired Pat
Riley prior to the 1991-92 season. Riley, who
coached the Lakers to four NBA titles during the
1980's, taught the Knicks hard, physical defense,
and immediately gave them a boost. That season,
the team, which now included fan favorite John
Starks, posted a 51-31 record, good enough for
a first place tie in the Atlantic Division. After
defeating the Pistons in the first round of the
playoffs, the team battled with the Bulls for seven
games, before once again letting the Bulls get the
best of them.
The 1992-93 season proved to be
even more successful, as the Knicks won the Atlantic
Division with a 60-22 record. The team made it to
the Eastern Conference finals, where once again
they met the Bulls. After taking a two games-to-none
lead, the Knicks lost the next four games.
After the Bulls' Michael
Jordan made what would be his first retirement
from basketball prior to the 1993-94 season, many
saw this as an opportunity for the Knicks to finally
make it to the NBA Finals. The team, who acquired
Derek
Harper in a midseason trade with the Dallas
Mavericks, once again won the Atlantic Division
with a 57-25 record. In the playoffs, the team defeated
the New
Jersey Nets in the first round before finally
getting past the Bulls, defeating them in the second
round in seven games. In the Eastern Conference
Finals, they faced the Indiana
Pacers, who at one point held a three game-to-two
lead. They had this advantage thanks to the expoits
of Reggie
Miller, who scored 25 fourth quarter points
in Game 5 to leat the Pacers to victory. However,
the Knicks won the next two games to reach their
first NBA Finals since 1973.
In the finals, the Knicks would
play seven low-scoring, defensive games against
the Houston
Rockets. After splitting the first two games
in Houston, the Knicks would win two out of three
games at Madison Square Garden and came within one
game of winning their first NBA title in 21 years.
In Game 6, however, a last-second attempt at a game-winning
shot by Starks was tipped by Rockets center Hakeem
Olajuwon, giving the Rockets a 86-84 victory
and forcing a Game 7. The Knicks lost Game 7 90-84,
frequently credited to Starks's dismal 2-for-18
shooting performance.
The next year, the Knicks were second
place in the Atlantic Division with a 55-27 record.
The team defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers before
facing the Pacers again in the second round. The
tone for the Knicks-Pacers series was set in Game
1, as Miller once again became a clutch nuisance
to the Knicks by scoring eight points in the final
8 seconds of the game to give the Pacers a 107-105
victory. The series went to a Game 7, where Ewing's
last-second layup attempt to tie the game missed,
giving the Pacers a 97-95 win. Riley resigned the
next day, and the Knicks hired Don
Nelson as their new head coach.
During the 1995-96 season, Nelson
was fired after 59 games, and, instead of going
after another well-known coach, the Knicks hired
longtime assistant Jeff
Van Gundy, who had no prior experience as a
head coach. The Knicks ended up with a 47-35 record
that year, and swept the Cavaliers in the first
round of the playoffs before losing to the eventual
champion Bulls (who had an NBA record 72 wins in
the regular season) in five games.
In the 1996-97 season, the Knicks,
with the additions of such players as Larry
Johnson and Allan
Houston, registered a 57-25 record. In the playoffs,
the Knicks swept the Charlotte
Hornets in the first round before facing the
Miami
Heat (coached by Riley) in the second round.
The Knicks took a 3-1 lead in the series before
a brawl near the end of Game 5 resulted in suspensions
of key players. With Ewing and Houston suspended
for Game 6, Johnson and Starks suspended for Game
7, and Charlie Ward suspended for both, the Knicks
lost the series.
The 1997-98 season was marred by
a wrist injury to Ewing on December
20, which forced him to miss the rest of the
season and much of the playoffs. The team, which
had a 43-39 record that season, still managed to
defeat the Heat in the first round of the playoffs
before having another meeting with the Pacers in
the second round. This time, the Pacers easily won
the series in five games, as Reggie Miller once
again broke the hearts of Knicks fans by hitting
a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation
in Game 4, en route to a Pacers victory. For the
fourth straight year, the Knicks were eliminated
in the second round of the playoffs.
Prior to the lockout-shortened 1998-99
season, the Knicks traded Starks in a package to
the Golden
State Warriors for superstar guard Latrell
Sprewell (whose contract was voided by the Warriors
after choking Warriors' head coach P.
J. Carlesimo during the previous season), while
also trading Charles
Oakley for Marcus
Camby. After barely getting into the playoffs
with a 27-23 record, the Knicks started an improbable
postseason run. It started with the Heat's elimination
in the first round after Houston made a running
one-handed shot with 0.8 seconds left in the deciding
game. This remarkable upset marked only the second
time in NBA history that an 8-seed had defeated
the 1-seed in the NBA playoffs. After defeating
the Atlanta
Hawks in the second round four games to none,
they faced the Pacers yet again in the Eastern Conference
Finals. Despite losing Ewing to injury for the rest
of the playoffs prior to Game 3, the Knicks won
the series (aided in part to a four-point play by
Larry Johnson in the final seconds of Game 3) to
become the first eighth-seeded playoff team to make
it to the NBA Finals. However, in the Finals, the
San
Antonio Spurs, with superstars David
Robinson and Tim
Duncan, proved too much for the injury-laden
Knicks, which lost in five games.
The 1999-00 season would prove to
be the last one in New York for Ewing, as the Knicks,
who had a 50-32 record that season, lost in the
Eastern Conference Finals to the Pacers. After the
season, Ewing was traded on September
20, 2000
to the Seattle
SuperSonics, and the Ewing era, which produced
many playoff appearances but no NBA titles, came
to an end.
Post-Ewing Era Decline
Despite the loss of Ewing, the Knicks
remained successful in the regular season, as they
posted a 48-32 record. In the playoffs, however,
they fell in five games to the Toronto
Raptors, failing to get past the first round
of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
Soon, the Knicks began suffering
through a steep decline. After starting the season
10-9, the team was stunned on December
8, 2001
by the sudden resignation of Van Gundy. The team,
which hired Don
Chaney as their new head coach, ended up with
a 30-52 record, and for the first time since the
1986-87 season, they did not qualify for the playoffs.
After posting a 37-45 record in
the 2002-03 season and a 15-24 start to the 2003-04
season, the Knicks underwent a massive overhaul.
Isiah
Thomas was named the Knicks' president on December
22, 2003,
and eventually replaced Chaney with Lenny
Wilkens behind the bench. At the same time,
Thomas orchaestrated several trades, including one
that brought star point
guard Stephon
Marbury to the team. The team qualifed for the
playoffs that year with a 39-43 record, but were
swept by the Nets in the first round.
The Knicks fared worse in the 2004-05
season, as they ended up with a 33-49 record. Wilkens
resigned during the season, and Herb
Williams served as interim coach for the rest
of the season. During the offseason, the team signed
Larry
Brown to a five-year contract worth about $50
million, hoping he would lead the Knicks back to
the playoffs.
The Knicks Today
The Knicks' payroll is currently
the highest in the league at over $130 million,
but the team has been among the worst in the NBA.
The hiring of Hall-of-Fame player Thomas to replace
as general manager the unpopular Scott
Layden was seen as a chance for redemption,
but Thomas's tenure has not lived up to expectations.
To his credit, he has traded aging veterans and
expiring contracts for talented players, such as
star point guard Stephon
Marbury, talented guard Jamal
Crawford, and talented inside scorer Eddy
Curry. However, Thomas has also accepted many
questionable players in trades: Penny
Hardaway, an oft-injured swingman with a massive
contract; Jerome
Williams, an excellent and hardworking defender
but also saddled with a large contract; Malik
Rose, a backup forward with a large, long-term
contract; Maurice
Taylor, a disappointing power forward with a
huge contract; and Tim
Thomas, an athletic player but known as a career
underachiever who has an enormous contract as well.
Furthermore, Thomas signed center Jerome
James to a 5-year $30 million contract, a move
widely considered wasteful and foolish since James
has career averages of 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds
per game, and has never averaged more than 5.4 points
and 4.2 rebounds per game. James currently averages
less than nine mintues a game. Thomas's trades have
also been questioned for the number of draft picks
and young players given up, as two 1st round picks
and two promising young players were given up for
Marbury, and talented forward Mike
Sweetney and several draft picks were traded
for Curry. In addition, the talents Thomas has added
are also somewhat questionable. Marbury has a reputation
as being both selfish and a locker room pest, while
Richardson and Crawford have until now not lived
up to their potential. Curry both has not lived
up to his full potential and has a heart ailment
that could be life-threatening.
Thomas has managed to trade away
Hardaway and Tim Thomas, and also cut Williams on
favorable terms. He has managed to take a roster
full of old veterans and transformed it into a young
and talented team, as underperforming as it is.
New optimism was initially instilled in Knicks fans
at the beginning of the season from the hype stemming
from the Curry trade and Brown's hiring. The first
half of the season was a disaster, as the Knicks
struggled to adjust to a new coach and had a 15-37
record two weeks into the 2006 calendar year. In
addition, a potentially top 5 draft pick from their
record had been traded to the Chicago Bulls before
the season started, exacerbating a disappointing
season. In an attempt to rejuvenate the team, the
Knicks traded Antonio Davis to the Toronto
Raptors for small forward Jalen
Rose, and later acquired All-Star guard Steve
Francis from the Orlando
Magic in exchange for the injured Hardaway and
young Ariza on February 22, 2005. There are concerns
that these trades give the Knicks too many ball-hungry
players who are ineffective without it while inflating
the payroll for several years into the future. Rose
is due $15 million next season and Francis $13 million.
Only time will tell the truth about Thomas's trades.
With 15 wins and 42 losses, the
Brown-coached 05/06 Knicks were the worst team in
the league after 57 games, and are on pace to finish
with the worst record in franchise history (21-59,
1962-63). From media[1]
and fans[2],
Brown has faced heavy criticism despite his successful
past. News reports have stated that the players
have "quit" on Brown and are tired of him berating
them through the media. Also questioned is his continuous
shuffling of the starting lineup and bizarre in-game
rotations.[3]
Players of note
Notables:
Retired numbers:
- 10 - Walt
Frazier, G, 1967-77; Broadcaster
- 12 - Dick
Barnett, G, 1965-74
- 15 - Earl
Monroe, G, 1972-80
- 15 - Dick
McGuire, G, 1949-57; Head Coach, 1965-68;
longtime Scouting Director
- 19 - Willis
Reed, C, 1964-74; Head Coach, 1977-78
- 22 - Dave
DeBusschere, F, 1969-74
- 24 - Bill
Bradley, F, 1967-77
- 613 - Red
Holzman, Head Coach, 1967-77 & 1978-82
(won 613 games as Knicks coach)
- 33 - Patrick
Ewing, C, 1985-2000
Current Roster
Coaches and others
Not to be forgotten:
Other Facts
See also
External links
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