I New York Knicks they are one of the oldest franchises in US basketball history. Founded in 1946throughout their history they have conquered two NBA rings, graduating conference champions on eight occasions. In this article we will retrace their history, focusing on the main successes obtained on the parquet and the strongest players who have worn the jacket of the Big Apple team.
The origins of the New York Knicks
The New York Knicks were born in 1946on the initiative of the retired sports journalist, Ned Irishthen president of the historian Madison Square Garden. Irish gets the chance to create the franchise and, already having the arena available to play home games, all that remains is to find a name for the team. We opt for Knickerbockers, which will later be abbreviated to the name we know today: i Knicks. Knickerbockers were the knickerbockers worn by descendants of Dutch settlers in New York City.
New York Knicks greatest NBA hits
For the golden years of the Knicks you have to go back to first half of the seventies of the twentieth century, when New York showcased the first, and to date only, two NBA rings of its own history.
The first title comes right in 1970thanks to the success in the tiratissima Finals against i Los Angeles Lakerswhich the Knicks won in game-7 closing the series on 4 to 3.
The encore will come three years later, once again against the Lakers, in a final, however much less fought than the previous one. New York, in fact, will close the games in game-5 with a peremptory 4 to 1, redeeming itself from the same deficit suffered in the Finals just a year earlier, again against Los Angeles.
The greatest New York Knicks players in history
Among the basketball players capable of entering the history of the New York Knicks and of the squad by right, both for longevity and for the strength of the numbers put at the service of the franchise, one cannot fail to mention Patrick Ewing.
The former center that arrived from Georgetown University is the top scorer in New York history. With his 23,665 points in 15 years of militancy, he has put it behind him Walt Frazier e Willis Reed, Finals MVP of 1970 and 1973 and MVP of the 1970 regular season. Ewing is also first on the Knicks’ all-time list regarding i reboundswith a score of 10759.
