| NEW YORK KNICKS HISTORY
Quick facts:
Founded: 1946
Arena: Madison Square Garden
Division Championships: 8
Eastern Division 3 (53,54,70)
Atlantic 5 (71,89,93,94,13)
NBA Finals Appearances: 8 (51,52,53,70,72,73,94,99)
NBA Titles: 2 (70,73)
Playoffs: 45
Best Season: 1969-70 60-22
1992-93 60-22
Worst Season: 2014-15 17-65
What is a Knickerbocker?
The question "what is a Knickerbocker?" has been asked by many NBA fans. The simple answer is that it is pants worn by early Dutch settlers in the Hudson river area that now makes up the many boroughs of New York City.
The term really came to fame when American writer Washing Irving wrote the satiric piece A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. Washington's use of the word came to symbolize a New Yorker who could trace their ancestry back to the early Dutch settles.
With the publication of Irving's book, the Dutch settler "Knickerbocker" character became synonymous with New York City. The city's most popular symbol of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was "Father Knickerbocker", complete with cotton wig, three-cornered hat, buckled shoes, and, of course, knickered pants.
First Points:
The first two points in New York Knicks history, and NBA history were scored by Ossie Schectman in the very first game in NBA history. The Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies 68-66 in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada.
Schectman played only 54 games in his NBA career averaging 8 points a game.
Christmas Tradition:
The first ever Christmas day NBA game was between the New York Knicks and the Providence Steamrollers. The Knicks won 89-75.
First Asian-American player:
in 1947, the Knicks draft Wat Misaka, a guard from Utah, in the 7th round of the BAA draft. Misaka who was of Japanese heritage played only 3 games for the Knicks and became the first non-white player in NBA history.
Misaka would be waived due to injury and return to Utah where he became an engineer and kind of became forgotten footnote in basketball history.
Winners of the Lottery:
The New York Knicks controversially won the first ever NBA lottery in 1985. The Knicks did not have the worst record in the league and jumped several spots to get the #1 pick which turned out to be Patrick Ewing
Fans have accused the NBA of rigging the lottery with many theories, one of the most popular is the frozen envelop theory. That theory holds that the NBA put the envelop for the Knicks in the freezer and when David Stern reached in to grab it he felt for the frozen envelop.
None of these theories really hold much water under investigation, yet they persist.
New York Knicks Home Arenas
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Arena | Opened | Knicks Home | Knicks Left | Closed | Capacity | Cost | |
Madison Square Garden III | 1925 | 1946 | 1968 | 1969 | 16,000+ | 4.75 Million | |
Madison Square Garden IV | 1968 | 1968 | Present | Present | 19,812 | 7 million(1968) |
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Top 10 players in New York Knicks History
The New York Knicks have had a complicated history. Despite playing in the largest city in the United States, the Knicks, for most their history, have not been very good. They also, have lacked that superstar power that wins MVPs and championships.
The Knicks are one of the least successful original NBA teams. The Warriors, and Celtics have been much more successful than the Knicks, as have NBL converts such as the Lakers, Sixers and Pistons - Even modern teams like the Spurs and Bulls have been more successful.
The lack of overall success is not to say that the Knicks have not had some good players, because they have. The Knicks in fact have had some very good NBA players.
Complete Article |
The Oldest Continually Operated NBA Teams
The NBA began in 1946 as the BAA, this is a fact most fans know. But what many fans do not know is that some of the leagues teams predate the formation of the NBA.
Only three of the original 11 teams are still in existence today. The 1946-1947 had many teams fans are familiar today, they include: The Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia Warriors. Those are the 3 oldest purely NBA teams, but what often gets left out of NBA history is the history of other leagues besides the NBA, most notable the NBL.
The National Basketball League or NBL was a league born out of other Midwest leagues in the mid 1930s. The League was able to survive the Great Depression and World War II before it finally merged with the BAA to form the NBA. The NBA pretty much washed away the NBL's history and the history of the teams who joined.
Still, most NBL and BAA teams from before 1960 did not make it. Of the 18 teams who were in the NBA during the 1949-50 season, only the Celtics, Knicks, Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Syracuse Nationals, Rochester Royals, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and Fort Wayne Pistons are still around today. And there you have it, the oldest 8 teams in NBA history. But the age of a team does not tell its history, and in some cases a teams history goes way-way back.
So here we go, the 10 oldest teams in the NBA.
Complete Article |
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NBA Players turned Politicians
With the recent unrest in America, a lot of current and former NBA players have made comments online and let their feels and opinions be known. For some, this is seen as the players stepping out of their industry; for most it is just the players exercising their 1st Amendment rights. But, players getting political is nothing new. Many former athletes have left the court and gone on to have very successful playing careers.
Most people will recognize that several former football players have made some very high profile runs of office. The most famous of these, and successful, is former University of Michigan star Gerald Ford. Ford served 25 years in the House of Representatives, before in 1973, being nominated by Richard Nixon to become the Vice President. When Nixon resigned the office following the Watergate scandal, Ford became the 38th President of the United States. Ford would lose his re-election bid in 1976 to Jimmy Carter.
Another famous football star, Jack Kemp ran for the office of president in 1996 as the Republican challenger to Bill Clinton. Kemp, a star quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, selected another former athlete to be his running-mate. Kemp selected former New York Knicks forward Bill Bradley to be his Vice-Present.
Complete Article
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How Cocaine caused the New York Knicks to throw games
Cocaine was the scourge of the NBA in 1970s and 80s, the drug lead to 8 players being banned from the NBA and 3 of them permanently. But no case of drug use, or potential use, is as crazy as what is rumored to have been doing on with the 1980s Knicks.
The Knicks were the main attraction in New York City during the 1970s. The team won their only two NBA championships and made the eastern finals 5 times. But by the late 70s and early 80s the team had fallen on hard times. But things had started to look up, the Knicks had used the 4th pick in the 1978 NBA draft on Montana guard Michael Ray Richardson.
Richardson was going to change the franchise and bring back the glory days of the early 1970s, or so the Knicks thought.
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Complete Article
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Military Veterans who have played in the NBA
The United States Military has been a big piece of American history and American lore. Before every basketball game fans stand an honor America and the men and women who have served with the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. The song immortalizes the defense of Fort McHenry from the war of 1812. The Veterans Administration (VA) estimates that 22 million Americans have served in the military. Countless famous Americans have served in the armed forces and that includes several NBA players.
During the early days of one of the NBA's precursors, the NBL, it was not uncommon for a player to leave the league to join the military. The military offered better pay and better accommodations than the league did.
World War II was nearly the end of the NBL as the majority of players left to serve. The lack of players caused the first racial integration in any major sport in American history
Complete Article |
Wat Misaka broke the color barrier years before Jackie Robinson
he was the first non-Caucasian to ever play in the NBA, or as it was known at that time the BAA or Basketball Association of America. Watura Misaka, the second generation son of Japanese immigrants, grew up on Ogden's 25th street in the back of a barber shop and would often find him and his family the victim of rampant racial discrimination. Yet despite this Misaka was able to find a love of basketball and was allowed on the Ogden High Schools basketball team, where in 1940 he lead them to the state title.
In 1942 he began attending college at Weber College, which is now Weber State University. This was a dangerous time to be Japanese-American as president Roosevelt had recently signed Executive Order 9066 which required that Japanese-American's in the western United State be placed into interment camps. It remains one of the darkest chapters in American history and one of, if not the most, egregious violation of Human and Civil Rights in the 20th century.
Misaka was allowed to get an exemption to continue his studies at Weber and play basketball. He only played two seasons at Weber College but would lead the Wildcats to the Junior College championship both season.
Complete Article |
US Customs report when Knicks returned from Toronto after playing first ever NBA game.
Newspaper article about the Knicks playing their first home game.
1946-47 Knicks team photo.
Knicks vs St. Louis Bombers 1946
1946-47 Knicks
Poster with Ed Sadowski(Tor) for the first ever NBA game.
Promo ads for first ever NBA game.
Madison Square Garden being built in the 1960s
The original Madison Square Garden located on Eighth Avenue and 50th Street in the 1950s
Ossie Schectman scores the first ever basket in NBA history.
Ken Sears
 
Article about Knicks signing Wat Misaka.
Carl Braun circa 1959.
Phil Jacksonson in the 1970s
Phil Jackson going for a layup vs the Lakers
Knicks in the 1970s. including Jerry Lucas #32, Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Phil Jackson #18, Bill Bradley #24
Micahel Ray Richardson had one of the most promising careers for the Knicks in the early 1980s, but lost it due to drugs.
Knicks rookie Patrick Ewing promo art work next to the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson
Carmelo Anthony
Enes Kanter
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NBA History
News Day Knicks History Site
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