Glory Days N ew York City’s proud basketball tradition stretches back bk more than a century In the early part of the 1900s there were more players and fans in and around the Big Apple than in any other part of the country So when the Basketball Association of America BAA formed in 1946 people everywhere kept a close eye on the New York Knickerbockers or Knicks for short kC d b k b ll d h The Knicks turned out to be one of the best teams in the league They continued their fine play after the BAA joined forces with the older National Basketball League NBL to form the National Basketball Association NBA Much of the credit for New York’s success went to the team’s coach Joe Lapchick He had been a legendary player in the 1920s and a very popular college coach after that Lapchick demanded that the Knicks play as 6
a team As a result New York made it to the playoffs in each of Lapchick’s eight seasons They reached the NBA Finals three times in a row from 1950 51 to 1952 53 The stars of those early clubs included Harry Gallatin Dick McGuire Carl Braun Vince Boryla Max Zaslofsky Ray Felix Connie Simmons Ernie Vandeweghe and Nat Sweetwater Clifton Clifton was the first African-American star in the NBA In the years that followed many more good players wore the New York uniform including Richie Guerin Kenny Sears Willie Naulls and Johnny Green However the Knicks fell behind other NBA teams during the late 1950s and early 1960s At one point they suffered eight losing seasons in a row New York began to rebuild around a group of talented and unselfish players including college stars Willis Reed Bill Bradley Cazzie Russell Walt Frazier Phil Jackson and Dave Stallworth Trades for Dave DeBusschere Dick Barnett Jerry Lucas and Earl Monroe made the Knicks even better Under coach Red Holzman LEFT Coach Joe Lapchick turned the Knicks into one of the NBA’s best teams ABOVE Dave DeBusschere battles for a loose ball 7
they became NBA champions in 1970 and again in 1973 As these stars retired the Knicks found other exciting players including Bob McAdoo Spencer Haywood Ray Williams Micheal Ray Richardson Bill Cartwright and Bernard King The Knicks played winning basketball but they were never a serious championship contender The team did not return to the NBA Finals until the 1990s By then New York had a new coach and a new star Pat Riley who guided the Los Angeles Lakers to four championships during the 1980s was hired to coach the team Patrick Ewing a fierce and agile center led a tough defensive-minded club that featured great supporting players including Mark Jackson Charles Oakley Anthony Mason and John Starks Ewing and the Knicks developed a bitter rivalry with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls Unfortunately New York often came out on the short end of the score when they played The Knicks finally reached the NBA Finals in 1994 and came within a basket of beating the Houston Rockets for the championship LEFT Most fans agree that Patrick Ewing was the best player in team history ABOVE Bernard King drives to the basket 9
