Fall: The New York Knicks basketball franchise has reportedly spent up to $50 million on a new structure, which is causing…
The New York Knicks, sometimes known as the New York Knickerbockers, are a professional basketball team headquartered in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The Knicks are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference and play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The squad shares Madison Square Garden, home to the New York Rangers of the National Basketball League (NBA), with the New Yorkers. They share a New York City location with the Brooklyn Nets, another NBA franchise.
The Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks are the only two original National Basketball Association clubs currently playing in their home city. The term “Knickerbocker” originates from the pen name adopted by Washington Irving for his A History of New York. This moniker was subsequently extended to the offspring of the first Dutch immigrants to the area that would eventually become New York and, consequently, to all New Yorkers.
The franchise was one of the original members of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was formed in 1946 by Ned Irish and merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949 to become the NBA. Early on, the Knicks enjoyed success, and under head coach Joe Lapchick, the team was a consistent challenger for the postseason. The Knicks participated in three straight NBA Finals, all of which ended in losses, starting in 1950. Following Lapchick’s resignation in 1964, the squad started to struggle.
The Knicks didn’t start to reclaim their past dominance until Red Holzman took over as head coach in the late 1960s. In 1970 and 1973, Holzman led the Knicks to two NBA titles with great success. The 1980s Knicks had a mixed record of success, making six postseason trips but missing out on the NBA Finals.
The 1990s Knicks, who made it to the playoffs, were headed by Patrick Ewing, a future Hall of Fame center. The Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat were fierce rivals during this time. Under head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy during this time, they were well-known for playing tough defense and made two trips to the NBA Finals (1994 and 1999). They did not, however, succeed in winning an NBA championship during this time.
Led by a core of forwards Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks won their first division title in 19 years in 2012–13. The team has struggled to reclaim its prior successes since 2000. They were ultimately defeated by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and they missed eight consecutive postseasons before returning to the postseason in 2020–21 under the direction of forward Julius Randle and sophomore RJ Barrett, who was chosen third overall in the 2019 NBA draft.
