The Failure of New York
Madison Square Garden, often called the “Mecca of Basketball” has been forced to host Knick basketball since the dawn of the 21st century. Just the phrase “21st century Knick basketball” will cause agony, anger, and embarrassment from the New York faithful, while drawing laughter and mockery from the rest of the NBA, especially playoff-bound, small-market teams, who revel in the Knicks pool of misery. It is truly confounding how a team worth $4 billion, and one playing in the biggest market in sports only holds 4 playoff appearances in the past 20 years and holds the dubious record of the worst winning percentage since 2000 at 41.7%. The Sacramento Kings, owner of the longest playoff drought in sports- 16 years, still have accumulated more playoff berths this century than the Knickerbockers, something that I still cannot wrap my head around. Despite all this information, it’s important to truly understand what the Knicks have gone through over the past 20+ years.
The Success of the Patrick Ewing Era:
From 1985 to 2002– the entire career of Patrick Ewing, the Knicks had a winning percentage of .535 including a .606 winning percentage during their glory years between 1990 and 1999, where they would make 2 Finals, and come extremely close to hosting New York’s third Larry O’Brien Trophy. If not for some questionable calls, and the two best Knicks players, John Starks and Patrick Ewing shooting a combined 9–35 from the field or 25% in game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals, New York might have captured its third championship. Instead that 1994 collapse would signify the beginning of the end to one of the greatest era’s of Knicks basketball.
2002–2010: Does anyone have a clear direction for this franchise?
From 2002–2010, not only did the Knicks accumulate just one playoff appearance while never finishing above .500, they also routinely finished last in their division, therefore earning a high draft pick. These are the selections they would make:
2002- Nene (7th)
2003- Mike Sweetney (9th)
2004- No first round picks, Trevor Ariza (43rd)
2005- Channing Frye (8th)
2006- Renaldo Balkman (20th)
2007- Wilson Chandler (23rd)
2008- Danilo Gallinari (6th)
2009- Jordan Hill (8th)
2010- No first round picks
Despite having numerous opportunities to upgrade their roster through the draft, Isaiah Thomas and Co would strike out, drafting multiple busts such as Mike Sweetney, Jordan Hill and Channing Frye. If Knicks management wanted a power forward/center so badly in the 2003 draft, why not select two-time all star David West who would go just nine spots later.
Though the Knicks would draft Danilo Gallinari, a solid NBA player, he would get traded three years later as part of a massive trade that will be discussed shortly. The Knicks would also attempt to add to their roster by making inept free agency and trade decisions such as trading Nene and Marcus Camby for Antonio McDyess in 2002 and signing Jerome James to a 5 year $30 million contract in 2005. McDyess would only play in 18 games for New York, while James would average 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in only 9 minutes per game. These baffling moves would set the Knicks back in an extremely winnable division and playoff race.
The Carmelo Anthony Era
In February of 2011, the Knicks finally made their star splash as they traded Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, a 2014 first round pick and two additional second round picks in return for a couple of role players, and Carmelo Anthony. While they had gotten rid of some key role players, Glen Grunwald was salivating at the chance to pair Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire together; he could figure out the rest of the pieces later. However due to inconsistent play from the role players, and Amar’e Stoudemire pulling a 2021 Kyrie Irving, their time together would prove to be extremely unsuccessful as shown by their 3 playoff appearances over Melo’s 7 years with the team, and a disappointing second round exit to the Indiana Pacers being the deepest run this core would experience. In 2017, Carmelo Anthony would depart for the Thunder, officially signaling the end of the most successful Knicks era in almost two decades.
The Present
In the years since, the Knicks have gone through mini-rebuilds, before finally breaking through with Julius Randle at the helm in 2021. They would nab the 4th seed, and host New York’s first playoff game in eight years. Despite falling to the Hawks in five games, the future seemed bright in New York City with a 21 year-old RJ Barrett, a 27 year-old Julius Randle (All-NBA 3rd team), and a plethora of solid role players. However they have taken a huge step back this year, mainly due to injuries, inept coaching, and the extreme regression of Julius Randle. With a 30–41 record, and the occupants of the 12th seed, we might see the Knicks head towards yet another rebuild. Just don’t tell them that they have been in a continuous one for the past decade.
