Knickerbockers The
Celebrating the history of the New York Knicks
NEIL LEIFER / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
2 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
CONTENTS PART 1
Born at the Garden � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4
PART 2
Before the Banners � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10
PART 3
The Golden Era � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 26
PART 4
The Long Goodbye � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 56
PART 5
The Ewing Era � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 66
PART 6
Blood and Guts � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 74
PART 7
The Drought � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 98
PART 8
Rebirth � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 122
PART 9
Champions Again � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 132
PART 10 Epilogue � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 184 All-Time Greats � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 192 Garden Variety: SI covers � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 206
The stories in this book are from Sports Illustrated. INTRODUCTION > 3
PART 1
GARDEN PRESIDENT NED IRISH FOUNDED THE KNICKERBOCKERS FOR A BRAND-NEW LEAGUE. JOE LAPCHICK’S TEAMS REACHED THE NBA FINALS THREE STRAIGHT TIMES AND LOST ALL THREE. 4 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
1946–1954
BORN AT THE GARDEN
MATTY ZIMMERMAN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
B O R N AT T H E G A R D E N > 5
BETTMANN > T H E ARCHIVE 6 K N I C K/ EGETTY R B OIMAGES CKERS
BETTMANN ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
Life in the BAA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Lapchick (opposite) coached Wat Misaka and Lee Knorek at his first Knicks training camp, at Bear Mountain in October 1947. Misaka, who won an NCAA title at Utah, became the BAA’s first player of color that fall. Bud Palmer (above), who played on the Knicks’ first three teams, is considered one of the inventors of the jump shot. As a rookie, Carl Braun (left) scored 47 points at Providence on December 6, 1947, then a BAA record.
B O R N AT T H E G A R D E N > 7
8 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
BETTMANN ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
MATTY ZIMMERMAN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Garden Nights Ernie Vandeweghe (opposite) often reached Madison Square Garden for home games after a full day of classes at Columbia’s medical school. His son Kiki later became an NBA All-Star. Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (above) joined the Knicks from the Harlem Globetrotters in 1950 as one of the NBA’s first Black players and helped them reach the Finals that season. Olympic champion Mal Whitfield presented him a plaque on Clifton Night, February 16, 1954, with his wife, Joan, beside him. Clifton entered the Hall of Fame in 2014.
B O R N AT T H E G A R D E N > 9
PART 2
BEFORE THE BANNERS
THE KNICKS MISSED THE PLAYOFFS SEVEN STRAIGHT SEASONS WHILE BOSTON PILED UP TITLES. THE DRAFT STARTED THE REPAIR JOB: WILLIS REED, BILL BRADLEY AND WALT FRAZIER. 10 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
1954–1967
NEIL LEIFER / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
BEFORE THE BANNERS > 11
JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
12 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
ROUNDBALL BOUNCES BACK Led by the World Champion St. Louis Hawks, professional basketball moves to center stage for its biggest year, with a flock of talented rookies to stimulate competition
A
A FEW months ago, Ben Kerner, the owner of the St. Louis Hawks of the National Basketball Association, loaned the city of St. Louis $30,000 to refurbish Kiel Municipal Auditorium, where the Hawks play their home games. Not that the city was strapped, you understand, but such funds were not available at the time. It was, admittedly, one of the year’s minor financial transactions — but though small in sum, it was large in substance. Half a dozen years ago, the effervescent Mr. Kerner (he weeps, shudders, cheers and groans at games)
Bodies in Motion A Hulcher camera turns Knicks and Minneapolis Lakers players into a blur at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 1958. The Knicks won 110-97.
by JEREMIAH TAX • October 27, 1958
would have been hard put to find 30 free and clear dollars for lending purposes. His current prosperity is a sample of the surging fortunes of professional basketball. And the NBA opens its 13th season this week with every prospect that it will play to its greatest audience ever — the Hawks, for example, have been sold out of season tickets for two months. This year, too, more than 90% of the Americans who own television sets will be able to follow the pros. On 20 Sunday afternoons NBC will telecast, live, a Gameof-the-Week over 140-odd stations in its network. Last Sunday, in the first of these televised presentations and the official league opener, Syracuse beat Detroit 103 to 94. After due credit is given wise promotion, it is still true that the preeminent cause of this popularity is the game itself. Basketball, the way the pros play it, is an engrossing display of grace, finesse and power. Those three words leap to mind instantly at the sight, for example, of the Boston Celtics bringing the ball upcourt on one of their explosive fast breaks. Or of the Hawks’ Bob Pettit, as he weaves, wheels, feints and forces his way relentlessly toward the basket. This is the human body in purposeful action, in economy of motion, a sight to gratify the eye of anyone with an instinct for sport.
The NBA cast of Cousy, Pettit, Russell, McGuire et al., that has performed so stirringly for several years now, offers some new faces this season, though the 10-player limit for each team makes this an extremely difficult league to crash. Guy Rodgers brings to Philadelphia the closest approach to Cousy’s deceptive ball handling the game has yet seen. Minneapolis, a team that has desperately needed one bright star around whom it could rebuild to former greatness, now has him in Elgin Baylor. This is one of the few men in basketball history who can play every position on the floor, and not just creditably. His shooting is often unbelievable; given room just a step past the center line, he will get the ball off with the barest of warning and marvelous accuracy. There are going to be nights when Baylor, like Bob Pettit, will not be stopped, not even by Bill Russell — which will be quite a sight. Si Green at Cincinnati, Connie Dierking at Syracuse and Mike Farmer at New York also have the major league talent necessary for playing in this company. They will be welcomed by fans, of course, but hardly by the players. The statement is not made facetiously; the old pros in the NBA are a prideful lot, in love with their game and seldom impressed by a newcomer’s qualifications. Talk to such BEFORE THE BANNERS > 13
as Bill Sharman, 31 years old, facing for the eighth successive year a grueling 72-game schedule that frequently calls for four one-night stands in one week in four widely separated cities. Sharman is straining at the leash; no mere college All-America is going to beat him out of a job. And this — this furious competition at the highest level of playing skill — is the real reason why professional basketball is such a great game. Boston Celtics 1958 record: won 49, lost 23; first in East. Top scorer: Bill Sharman, 1,402; sixth in league. Top rebounder: Bill Russell, 1,564; first in league.
performer, he is going to surprise many a defensive backcourtman in the NBA. This team is a model for the old maxim that you can’t win without the ball. Russell gets them the ball (he got it last season, on rebounds, 348 times more often than any other player in the league). When he gets it, Cousy & Co. know what to do with it, especially in a dazzling fast break. So the Celtics should again finish first. New York Knicks 1958 record: won 35, lost 37; fourth in East. Top scorer: Kenny Sears, 1,342; ninth in league. Top rebounder: Willie Naulls, 799; 10th in league This is, essentially, the same team as last year’s, which scored 100 or more points in 37 consecutive games to break the old record by 25 games. It is an obviously aggressive, experienced crew — with two flaws which cost it a playoff spot last season and may do so again. The first is the lack of a gradeA big man who is a real threat on offense in the pivot and can reasonably contain rival big men. Neither Ray Felix nor Charlie Tyra measures up to
Farmer and Pete Brennan. Farmer is the stronger and, at this stage, appears the better on defense; Brennan has the better scoring touch. Levane plans to get around his lack of pivot strength by keeping his center out of the slot and playing more of a running, driving game than last year. The Knick backcourt bows to none: Carl Braun, Richie Guerin and Ron Sobie are fast, intelligent ball handlers and doublefigure scorers. A year’s experience has helped reserves Brendan McCann and Guy Sparrow. Finally, there is Willie Naulls, as superb a natural athlete as can be found in any sport. It is more than worth the admission price to watch Willie toss in his soft one-handers with the ease and grace of a ballet movement. But, considering the flaws, the pick for New York is fourth again.
The statement is worth debate, but this is still the best team in basketball, despite its loss to St. Louis in the Philadelphia Warriors March playoffs. The Celtics finished 1958 record: won 37, lost 35; third in eight full games ahead of the closEast. Top scorer: Paul Arizin, 1,406; est team in each division last season, fifth in league. Top rebounder: Neil and their average victory margin (5.5 Johnston, 790; 11th in league points) was more than twice that of any other club. They have lost three Three weeks ago, during an exhiplayers to retirement — key men, bition game with St. Louis, Neil though all were reserves: Arnie Risen, Johnston smashed into a wall Jack Nichols and Andy Phillip. and damaged a knee severely. Man for man, their replaceNew York Knicks 1958 record Doctors predicted he would ments should add strength, if be out for most of the season. not immediately then surely in Won 35, lost 37; fourth in East. Until then there had been at the near future. Ben Swain (for least a reasonable prospect Risen) will spell Bill Russell at Top scorer that Philadelphia would be center, and he has the height (6 an Eastern title contender all feet 8), spring, long arms and Kenny Sears, 1,342; ninth in league. the way and might even beat offensive ability for the job. Boston in the playoffs. The latHe has much to learn about Top rebounder est prognosis is considerably defense but, fortunately, the Willie Naulls, 799; 10th in league more optimistic, but no one right teacher in Coach Red can say when Johnston will be Auerbach. Jim Loscutoff (for completely effective again. It Nichols) returns up front after being out most of last year with a knee the job, though neither can be faulted is a critical question for the Warriors. A tireless, full-hearted competitor, for effort. The second is the absence of injury and subsequent operation. The Neil is the only player besides George truly adequate replacement for Kenny knee is sound again; if Jim can forget it ever was injured (the critical part of Sears. Understandably, at 6 feet 9 and Mikan ever to lead the NBA in scoring rehabilitation for any athlete), he will only 190 pounds, Sears tires faster for three straight years. And he has alagain be the second-best rebounder than most frontcourtmen from the re- ways been the Warriors’ best rebounder. Even without Johnston, however, on the team and a double-figure scor- lentless pounding under the boards. Coach Fuzzy Levane has hope that ei- new Coach Al Cervi will hardly field an er. Sam Jones (for Phillip) is the mostimproved player on the Boston roster. ther of two rookies will be able to give also-ran. First, there is Cervi himself Always cat-quick, and now a confident Sears the rest he needs. They are Mike — a peppery, inspirational presence 14 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
Finally, there is Willie Naulls, as superb a natural athlete as can be found in any sport. It is more than worth the admission price to watch Willie toss in his soft one-handers with the ease and grace of a ballet movement. But, considering the flaws, the pick for New York is fourth again.
flickered only occasionally since then. Johnson, 6 feet 6 and 220 pounds of brawn, has shown the ability to make the transition from the showboating Globetrotters to NBA ball easily. All veterans are back and fit. With Neil Johnston, the Warriors should finish second; without him, third. Syracuse Nationals 1958 record: won 41, lost 31; second in East. Top scorer: Dolph Schayes, 1,791; second in league. Top
rebounder: Dolph Schayes, 1,022; fourth in league For two years in a row, Player-Coach Paul Seymour has driven Syracuse to
Facing His Old Team Willie Naulls faced the team that had traded him in his first game as a Knick, on December 11, 1956. He scored 21 points against St. Louis, but the Hawks won 137-128.
MATTY ZIMMERMAN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
on the bench and a tactician second to none in the NBA. Two rookies — Guy Rodgers and Andy Johnson — add power and flexibility to the squad. By using Rodgers, a superb playmaker, in the backcourt, Cervi will be able to move Tom Gola to one of the corner positions, where his defensive and rebounding skill will have increased scope. This may be precisely the opportunity Gola has needed to demonstrate the talent that flared so brilliantly during his college years and has
BEFORE THE BANNERS > 15
the second-best winning percentage in the league. He has done this with two or three old pros and a collection of castoffs from other clubs — goading them into an ever-running, never-saydie series of performances. It has been a highly creditable job. Last year, Paul lost all four of his top draft choices when none decided to turn pro, a serious blow to his planning. This year he has fared considerably better. Fresh from college ranks, Connie Dierking has already shown himself ready to spell John Kerr at center, releasing Bob Hopkins for duty up front behind Dolph Schayes. Backcourt Rookies Hal Greer and Tommy Kearns may well satisfy Seymour to the point where he will spend most of his time on the bench or even quit playing. Greer has phenomenal speed and Kearns is a Seymour-type determined hustler. Offensively, the front court of Schayes and Ed Conlin can match any other pair. Dolph, starting his 11th year as a pro, is an amazingly resilient athlete who shows no sign of slowing down; when he does, every estimate of this team must be changed, as a glance at the above statistics shows. Possibly the biggest intangible here is whether or not Kerr will ever achieve the selfconfidence which would release all of his great potential. Seymour is hopeful this is the year. For the spectator, the Syracuse style of fast-weave and give-and-go basketball, with great emphasis on speed, is always a delight. It should also enable the Nats to finish second or third in the East, depending on Neil Johnston’s availability at Philadelphia.
St. Louis Hawks 1958 record: won 41, lost 31; first in West. Top scorer: Bob Pettit, 1,719, third in league. Top rebounder: Bob Pettit, 1,216; second in league The Hawks ran away with their division title last year and are at least 50% stronger this year. Their surplus talent, which must be cut from the squad by the middle of December, would make up a pretty fair entry in the league. So new Coach Andy Phillip could hardly ask for happier auspices at the start
of his tenure. Top of the list of added strength is, of course, Clyde Lovellette, acquired from Cincinnati in trade for five men who would have had extreme difficulty in making the Hawks’ roster — a deal which stunned the whole NBA. Many a coach would have given up far more for Big Clyde, despite his record of erratic behavior. He is still one of the very best hook-shooters and rebounders of all time, and since moving to St. Louis he appears to be deadly serious about basketball. The return of Al Ferrari from service brings speed
Hagan’s 41 Not Enough Cliff Hagan (16) of the St. Louis Hawks scored 41 points at Madison Square Garden on February 4, 1958, but the Knicks won 120-116. That April, the Hawks beat Boston for the NBA title. 16 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Dukes is no fool; he understands his problem, which is simply a matter of concentrating on the job at hand. If he conquers it, he will be a delight to watch.
and scoring punch to a backcourt that hardly needed it. Without him, Slater Martin, Jack McMahon, Win Wilfong, Frank Selvy and Med Park would do fine, thank you. And it is the same up front. Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley are surely set in their jobs. Rookies Dave Gambee and Hub Reed are both strong and well poised for newcomers, but how often can they be expected to replace the above-mentioned three or Lovellette and Charlie Share at center? Phillip’s only real problem is whom to cut. Despite this glut of talent, it is the opinion here that little (5 feet 10) Martin has been and still is the key to the Hawks’ success, with his hustle, speed and defensive skill. And since, at 33, he still appears tireless and immune to serious injury, St. Louis will win again. Cincinnati Royals 1958 record: won 33, lost 39; tied for second. Top scorer: Clyde Lovellette, 1,659, fourth in league. Top rebounder: Maurice Stokes, 1,142; third in league Sickness, retirement and trades have left the Royals with only one starter among three returning veterans. Most of the missing players are, conceivably, replaceable, but the great Maurice Stokes, still tragically under the spell of sleeping sickness, was an athlete and is a person with few equals. The Royals and the sport itself, for that matter, will miss him terribly. If Cincinnati struggles through the season in last place — a reasonable expectation — it will
nevertheless be worth watching on any given night simply because of Si Green, who returns from service after three years. This lithe and limber young man will surely take his place some day as one of the finest backcourtmen of all time. His duels with Cousy, McGuire, Martin and other current ball-handling wizards should be thrilling affairs. He will have help from Rookies Vern Hatton and Arlen Bockhorn and veteran Tom Marshall, with Hatton, a fine driver and set-shooter, the likeliest starter. Up front the burden of playing against rival big men will fall chiefly on Jim Palmer, who has brawn and a year of AAU ball to his credit. Dave Piontek’s rebounding and Jack Twyman’s shooting are also reliable assets. The tall newcomers must be considered doubtful quantities in the face of NBA-class competition until they prove otherwise. Jack Parr is frail and erratic; Wayne Embry is strong but heavy-footed; Archie Dees is said to have the attributes of a pro, but he has yet to show them when this observer was present. Coach Bobby Wanzer can count one thing sure: if the Royals finish anywhere but last, the lion’s share of credit will belong to him. Detroit Pistons 1958 record: Won 33, lost 39; tied for second. Top scorer: George Yardley, 2,001; first in league. Top rebounder: Walter Dukes, 954; sixth in league No slight is intended to the other veteran personnel, but the key to a so-so or sparkling season for Detroit is tall
but only occasionally terrific Walter Dukes. The point is that everyone from the brilliant Dick McGuire in the backcourt to the high-scoring George Yardley up front can be counted on, night after night, to play ball on a level close to his known ability. Not Dukes. And the pity is that when Walt really tries he is Bill Russell’s equal on the boards, certainly Russell’s superior presently as a shooter and perhaps as good a big man on defense as the sport has ever seen. A consistent Dukes could go a long way toward controlling the standout rival scoring threat — an incalculable asset. Dukes is no fool; he understands his problem, which is simply a matter of concentrating on the job at hand. If he conquers it, he will be a delight to watch. Elsewhere, Coach Red Rocha is set. With McGuire, he has Gene Shue, whose steady improvement will soon put him in All-Star status, and Dick Farley and Chuck Noble in reserve. Up front with Yardley are Joe Holup and Earl Lloyd, both strong and dependable, and Phil Jordon, with whom Rocha worked all summer on pivot play. Rookies who appear most likely to stick are Barney Cable and Shellie McMillon, both good boardmen. It would be especially nice if Dukes began to show his true worth this year, since the Pistons have a new, first-rank promoter in General Manager Nick Kerbawy. With a successful playing season, Nick could make the Detroit franchise one of the most successful, financially, in the league. At any rate, the Pistons will finish second. BEFORE THE BANNERS > 17
Minneapolis Lakers 1958 record: won 19, lost 53; fourth in West. Top scorer: Vern Mikkelsen, 1,248; 10th in league. Top rebounder: Larry Foust, 876; seventh in league Patsies for the whole NBA last year, the Lakers have high hopes this time around, but the feeling here is that such hopes are premature. True, there is a lot of fresh talent available, but it will require at least a season’s experience to be a factor in the division race. In addition, Coach John Kundla still has to depend on Jim Krebs to give Larry Foust the rest Foust requires at frequent intervals, and Krebs has yet to show the strength and spark a pro center needs. Up front, Vern Mikkelsen, always a tough and determined competitor, finally will have support, in the person of one of the most-publicized rookies in NBA history: Elgin Baylor. This will be a strong combination, especially if Baylor can avoid a marked tendency to follow a superb performance with a dismal one. When he’s right, he has the touch, deception and savvy of greatness. Two more rookies will spell this pair: Boo Ellis and Steve Hamilton, both among the top 10 collegians in rebounding last year. AllStar Dick Garmaker and Bob Leonard are a veteran pair of backcourtmen and will likely start, but this should be the year Rod Hundley begins to fulfill his promise and becomes a regular. This department has never gone along with the opinion which holds that Hundley is more showman than player and cannot become a top-grade pro. He has always had every physical requisite, he now has a year’s experience and, perhaps most important, he now has incentive, because two other veterans, Dick Schnittker and Ed Fleming, will be battling him for a place on the squad. Next year, who knows?—but this year, the Lakers will finish third.
NEIL LEIFER / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
18 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
JOHN LINDSAY / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Crowd Pleasers In 1961-62, Richie Guerin (opposite) became the first Knick to score 2,000 points in a season. Kenny Sears (above) received the Catholic Youth Organization’s first most popular Knick award on March 9, 1958, then scored 20 points that night in a 123-81 rout of Philadelphia.
BEFORE THE BANNERS > 19
NEIL LEIFER / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
20 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
NEW YORK GETS A TOP TEAM AT LAST After 21 losing seasons, smart drafting has stocked the Knicks with young talent led by Willis Reed. With Bill Bradley coming, New York may finally have a contender.
D
DID YOU see the news the other day? The President, the Times said, urged Republicans in Congress to put “nation above party.” The Soviet foreign minister was reported “confident of accord” on new disarmament proposals. In New York the mayor was trying to cut off a strike by city employees. Tickets were on sale for Ingrid Bergman’s first Broadway show in years. And the Knickerbockers lost their home opener at Madison Square Garden in overtime before 17,205 fans. All that happened just the other day — November 11, 1946.
Back From Oxford Bill Bradley spent two years at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar before playing a game for the Knicks. He was back in New York for this LIFE Studios session on June 30, 1967.
by FRANK DEFORD • October 23, 1967
So not much seems to have happened — with the Knicks or otherwise — since that day 21 years ago when they played their first game in Madison Square Garden. A few days before the Knicks had opened in the very first game in the history of the league that is now the National Basketball Association. They beat the never-tobe-forgotten Toronto Huskies 68–66 in Toronto. Leo Gottlieb led the Knicks with 14, and Stan Stutz, who still plays against the Globetrotters, went for nine. The Knicks should have quit then, in Toronto, when they were ahead. They never did as well in this country. As the NBA begins its 22nd season, only the Knicks and the Boston franchise are still around. Boston has won the title nine times; Philadelphia has won it, and St. Louis and Baltimore and Minneapolis and Syracuse and Rochester. New York is 0 for 21. If you had bet an even dollar on the Knicks to win the title that first year, and you had doubled the bet every year, you would now be $2,097,151 in the hole. So what, you say, monkeying with those phony figures. Well, “so what” is about the attitude that the Madison Square Garden Corp.—which owns the Knicks — has taken toward the team’s ineptitude over the years, while prospering from New York’s love
for the game. Twenty-one years the Knickerbockers have been losers, but they have kept bringing in the money. A total of 430,448 watched the Knicks play in the Garden last year, and just about every cent the 430,448 paid to get in, and for hot dogs and beer, went to the Knicks, because the NBA still has the quaint little rule that the home team gets it all. One day soon the magnificent new Garden atop Penn Station will be completed; it will hold 19,500 for the baskets and, win or lose, the Knicks will be even more of a bonanza. Last year the Knicks sold hardly 200 season tickets — not that that bothered them — but this year the figure will exceed 3,000. New York is a pro town and a basketball town. The Rangers — also owned by the Garden — pack them in, too, but hockey draws from only one small loyal segment of the population. In New York the bar talk is basketball. The kids play it year round. Their fathers bet it. The newspapers — what is left of them — feature the Knicks more. The TV ratings for basketball beat those for hockey. And if, occasionally, there are not enough of the vocal locals to fill up the Garden, there are always the tourists, stumbling along, gaping at the tall buildings, weighted down by the vacation money in their pockets, desperate to spend it. BEFORE THE BANNERS > 21
RAY HOWARD / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Welcome to Eighth Avenue Three months before he signed with the Knicks on June 22, 1967, Walt Frazier was named MVP of the NIT as Southern Illinois won the title. New York had taken him fifth in the draft.
“Give us two downstairs in the center for Mame tonight,” Short Brown Socks says to the man in the little ticket agency just off Broadway. “Look, Mac, I can’t get you into Mame till next July 16,” the ticket man says. “What dya say, a basketball game instead? Got two good ones right in the side loge at the Garden. Russell and the Celts are in town.” Or Wilt is there, or Baylor and West, or Oscar, 22 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
or Nate Thurmond, or Gus Johnson and the Baltimores, or somebody. For 21 years the Knicks have thrived as an opponent, as they say in boxing. Now, at last, they are coming into their own. Already they have brought within range every team in the league except Philadelphia, and they will almost surely be the most exciting team in any sport in the Big Town. Whenever Bill Bradley is separated from the Air Force for real and the new Garden is opened (late January? February? Don’t know? No opinion?) the vastly improved Knicks will be a product that, by itself, should carry the whole NBA to a bright new level. Bradley’s decision to turn pro merely iced the cake, for Coach Dick
McGuire’s team (page 39) is brimming with exciting talent, much of it new — Cazzie Russell, coming up to his collegiate brilliance; Walt Frazier, a smaller Elgin Baylor; Phil Jackson, from Deer Lodge, Mont. with his arms and legs dangling from his shoulders like a mobile; Freddie Crawford, a bona fide Comeback Kid; Captain Willis Reed, the stolid All-Star; Dick “Fall Back Baby” Barnett, the sloeeyed sharpshooter; Dick Van Arsdale, the strawberry blond with the whome? innocence; Emmette Bryant, a little dervish; Walt Bellamy, the saturnine center; and Butch Komives, who averaged 15.7 points last year but will have trouble making the second team this time.
Reed plays the pivotal role in the history of the Knicks. At the moment he was chosen in the 1964 draft the entire fortunes of the team began to change. Before that draft the Knicks had suffered from bad judgment, bad luck and a haughty attitude that was the child of self-delusion.
Reed, a powerful, deceptively softtempered man who powders a baby for Johnson & Johnson in one of their commercials, was made captain this year. “We’ve got so much talent,” he says, “that to improve all we have to learn is to utilize each individual’s special strength. That’s what we’ve never done on the Knicks before. For instance, coming down the stretch, we’ve got to forget ourselves and look for Barnett. He’s the best shot, so look for him. That’s the way we’ve never learned to play before.” Reed plays the pivotal role in the history of the Knicks. At the moment he was chosen in the 1964 draft the entire fortunes of the team began to change. Before that draft the Knicks had suffered from bad judgment, bad luck and a haughty attitude that was the child of self-delusion. For a time, for instance, the Knicks operated smugly with a general manager who lived in Denver. Reed, from Bernice, La. (“two stop lights”), had averaged 26 points at Grambling, but both the pro scouts and the Olympic committee thought Luke Jackson of Pan American the best big man available. The Knicks, for their part, felt that Bad News Barnes of Texas Western was the best, and they made him their first pick in the ’64 draft. (Barnes never did live up to his promise, and the Knicks unloaded him for Bellamy.) Ironically, the team that rated Reed highest was the Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise that had
been looking for a top center since George Mikan retired. The Lakers’ late general manager, Lou Mohs, had the ’64 prospects ranked carefully on a numerical scale, with Reed at the top, but Owner Bob Short ordered Mohs to pick Walt Hazzard, the local (UCLA) whiz. So Reed, amazingly, was available to the Knicks and they took him, leading off the second round. They also took Komives (in a deal) on this round, Crawford on the fourth, and Bryant on the seventh. There are only 17 players left in the league from that 1964 draft. The Knicks picked five. They also made four good choices the next year, although one of them, Dave Stallworth, has since been retired by a heart attack. Last year the Knicks’ first two choices made the league. This year Frazier and Jackson are two of the best rookies in the NBA. The Knicks now have the best and the most extensive scouting setup in the league, and the best individual scout in Red Holzman, and they are paying off. Holzman starts keeping tabs on prospects in high school and follows them through college. Jackson, for example, lost 20 pounds from his slim frame because of a blood virus last year, and many other scouts, unaware of this, wrote him off as too tired and skinny. Holzman knew better. It hardly used to be this way. In the 11 years before the Reed draft, the Knicks made a succession of selections that defy logic, common sense, luck, credibility and, possibly, the law
of averages. Even Pharaoh’s Egyptians, stacked up against Jehovah, got out from under after seven years. The Knicks peaked in 1953 and 1954 with teams featuring Dick McGuire that were good enough to win the Eastern Division. But there were no able replacements, and they gradually deteriorated. Since 1953 only twice did the Knicks make intelligent first-round picks — in 1955 with Ken Sears and in 1959 with Johnny Green. These aside, their decisions defy sympathetic understanding. Walter Dukes, drafted in ’53, played one year with New-York, averaging 7.8, and then began his eccentric hegira about the league until he ran out of franchises. The next year the Knicks selected Jack Turner. You remember Jack Turner. He averaged 2.5 in his one year. In 1956 it was Ron Shavlik, who managed to play 72 minutes in the NBA. Brendan McCann was chosen in 1957 over Sam Jones. Brendan averaged 1.9. The following year the Knicks passed over such possibilities as Hal Greer, Wayne Embry and Dave Gambee in favor of Pete Brennan. Pete lasted two games. Darrall Imhoff was picked in 1960 instead of Tom Sanders of NYU or Lee Shaffer. In 1961 Larry Siegfried, Ray Scott and Tom Meschery were available, but the Knicks took Tom Stith — Crawford’s roommate at St. Bonaventure — and the poor Stith never had a chance to prove them right. His career was quickly ended BEFORE THE BANNERS > 23
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Worth the Wait The Knicks drafted Princeton star Bill Bradley in 1965 and signed him on April 27, 1967, with chairman Irving Mitchell Felt, left, and president Ned Irish on hand.
by TB. The next year was a dilly. The Knicks passed over Zelmo Beaty, John Havlicek, Terry Dischinger, Chet Walker and two players from St. John’s — LeRoy Ellis and Kevin Loughery — to settle on Paul Hogue. He staggered out of the league the following November. By then, in the 1963 draft, New York had chosen Art Heyman over Nate Thurmond and Gus Johnson. The team’s record reached 21–69, worst in the league. The Knicks were lowest in shooting, rebounds, assists and points scored. They were a great opponent. The ascendancy from this nadir has not been startling (New York was not even .500 last year), but it has been a steady movement since ownership accepted the revolutionary notion that 24 > T H E K N I C K E R B O C K E R S
the basketball men should run the show. Holzman, for instance, has long been acknowledged as a fine judge of talent, but his recommendations often were overruled in favor of a player with a name that was owed to a college publicity man. “We were grabbing anyone and going nowhere,” says General Manager Eddie Donovan, a friendly, warm man with a teen-age crew cut, five kids and a home where he was born, in Elizabeth, N.J. It is Donovan, working smoothly with McGuire and Holzman, who deserves much credit for the reconstruction. Donovan’s shift from coach to general manager, in 1964, was a smart move; he simply did not have the temperament for the job. On the other hand, McGuire loves it. “When Dick was out of coaching,” says his wife, Terry, “there was just no life in him. He lost all interest. I’d rather have him coaching and ulcerated than relaxed and miserable.” McGuire succeeded Harry Gallatin in November 1965. The players were delighted; McGuire is a convivial,
pleasant leader. “I still have trouble getting over the fact that I just can’t go out and have a beer with the players,” he says. He is going to have even more difficulty containing himself on the bench this season, because a new NBA rule prohibits coaches from smoking there. “Oh my God,” he says, “I guess I’ll just have to chew gum.” In turn, this will create not only the psychological problems of withdrawal but even greater ones of communication. Listening to McGuire talk is trial enough; trying to understand what he says while he is chewing gum will require the players to achieve a new range of audio perception. McGuire speaks in slurred bursts, interspersed with quick breaths and scattered allusions to “whatdyacallit.” The bursts roll off faster and faster until, like a light appearing at the end of a tunnel, the conclusion of a thought comes forth with comparative clarity. For instance: “We should be a good running club. The trouble we have had is that, what dya call it, the middleman, the middleman on the break, we’ve never
had a good man in the middle. So we would come down and nobody would know what to do with it and, what dya call it, someone would end up taking a thirty foot jumper. But I think this year maybe we have the middleman. It could be Bradley or what dya call it Frazier. But when Bradley comes he will have to prove that he is better than the other guys.” McGuire laughs easily and graciously at references to his elocution or lack of it. At 41 he just accepts the fact that he is an incurable mumbler. “The kids are very good about it now,” he says. “They just nod.” Why not? They are on their way to bringing a new pride to the Garden, a strange, fresh winter experience for New York. Pretty soon — who knows?—maybe even a what dya call it, a championship.
Reporting for Duty
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bill Bradley’s first Knicks workout came on December 7, 1967. Two nights later he scored 8 points in 20 minutes of his debut, a 124-121 loss to Detroit at Madison Square Garden. BEFORE THE BANNERS > 25
PART 3
RED HOLZMAN TOOK OVER AS COACH, AND THE TRADE FOR DAVE DEBUSSCHERE FINISHED THE LINEUP. THE KNICKS BEAT THE LAKERS FOR TWO NBA TITLES IN FOUR SEASONS. 26 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
1967–1973
THE GOLDEN ERA
LANE STEWART / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
THE GOLDEN ERA > 27
ASSOCIATED PRESS
28 > THE KNICKERBOCKERS
OVERDUE WINNER IN NEW YORK It’s been two months since the city had a world champion and it never had one in basketball — but here are the Knicks tearing up the NBA with their team play.
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by JERRY KIRSHENBAUM • December 8, 1969
NEW YORK hasn’t had a World Series, much less a Super Bowl, to savor for a long time — almost eight weeks. This is a deprivation that becomes evident whenever the home-town Knickerbockers are playing at Madison Square Garden. The 19,500-odd
Calling the Shots Red Holzman’s emphasis on defense, ball movement and unselfish play turned the 1969–70 Knicks into champions.
people who attend Knick games these days have taken to stomping their feet to that happy organ music and yelling, in lusty union, “Let’s go Knicks,” just like October all over again. But perhaps New Yorkers should be allowed their little excesses in basketball, too — after nearly a quarter of a century of shooting baskets, the Knicks right now are running exactly one world championship behind the Mets. The idea that the Knicks might help themselves to the NBA championship this year had taken hold even before the season began, but public demonstrations to that effect reached a crescendo while the New Yorkers were brushing aside the champion Boston Celtics 113–98 recently at the Garden. The crowd was percolated mostly by a furious fourth-quarter rush during which the Knicks outscored Boston 17–5, a splurge that received its main impetus from the ball hawking and ball handling of Walt Frazier (see cover), the Knicks’
spidery backcourt man, and some mayhem on the part of Center Willis Reed, who, in the space of 37 seconds hit a 15-foot jumper, blocked two shots and slammed in a reverse stuff that might have registered a tremor or two on the nearest seismograph. By the time Coach Red Holzman mercifully removed Reed, Frazier, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley from the game — leaving goateed Dick Barnett as the only New York starter on the floor — the fans were reeling giddily, in part, no doubt, from the effects of repeatedly having to get up and sit down for all those standing ovations. With 2:59 to play and fully persuaded by the evidence at hand that they were witnessing two basketball dynasties passing each other in opposite directions, the spectators began to chant insistently, “We’re No. 1, we’re No. 1. …” Eagerly, if not quite accurately, the Garden’s $250,000 scoreboard echoed the sentiment by flashing THE GOLDEN ERA > 29