New York Knicks: Six Decades of Great Players, Great Moments

Preorder DVD - Dynasty Series: New York Knicks

Grit. Toughness. Scrappiness. Championship Excellence As one of the NBA’s charter franchises that began play in 1946, the New York Knickerbockers have left an indelible mark on not only New York City but basketball fans around the world. From the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue to the current Madison Square Garden, fans of the New York Knicks have witnessed greatness and heartbreak alike as some of the NBA’s greats have laced up their sneakers under the city’s white hot glare. Now, with the latest Dynasty Series release of New York Knicks: The Complete History by NBA Entertainment and Warner Home Video, basketball enthusiasts can relive the two championships, seven conference titles, eight division titles and countless memories that the back pages of New York’s newspapers have so proudly highlighted and celebrated.

Certainly no New Yorker will forget the Knicks 1969-70 squad that brought the city its first championship, led by a hobbled Willis Reed, a dazzling Walt Frazier and a team-first style of basketball coached by Hall of Famer Red. Three of the players from that team-Reed, Frazier and Dave DeBusschere-were named among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

How about the second championship team of 1972-73 and the ever-so-smooth Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, the offensive wizardry of Bob McAdoo in the late-70’s or the Knicks squads of the mid-’80s featuring the scoring prowess of Bernard King?

Outside of the first championship team, perhaps no other collection of players captured the attention of New Yorkers like the Patrick Ewing-led Knicks of the 1990s. With a roster filled with hard-nosed players like Charles Oakley, Xavier McDaniel, Greg Anthony, cult hero John Starks and coached by the cool and dapper Pat Riley, the Knicks made the Garden the place to be as they stormed through the Eastern Conference hurtling towards their inevitable match-up with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

The five-disc collection is packed with rarely-seen footage recalling the aforementioned classic players, coaches, and rivalries as well as eight classic games in their original broadcast form in Knicks history including:

Los Angeles Lakers at New York Knicks, 1970 NBA Finals, Game 7, May 8, 1970
-- Knicks triumph over Lakers for their first title (plus key moments from Game 5

New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons, 1984 Eastern Conference Playoffs, First Round, Game 5, April 27, 1984
-- Knicks overcome the Pistons in overtime

Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, 1984 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 6, May 11, 1984
-- Knicks beat the Celtics to force Game 7

New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers, 1989 Eastern Conference Playoffs, First Round, Game 3, May 2, 1989
--Knicks defeat the 76ers in overtime

Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks, 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 7, June 5, 1994
--New York wins first Eastern Conference title in 20 years

New York Knicks at Miami Heat, 1999 Eastern Conference Playoffs, First Round, Game 5, May 16, 1999
--Knicks win rivalry with Heat

Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks, 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 3, June 5, 1999
--The Garden erupts with win over the Pacers

Gliding To Game 7 Heroics By Clyde Frazier

Although Willis Reed was the inspiration for the Knicks’ dramatic Game 7 victory in the 1970 NBA Finals, Walt Frazier was the catalyst. Reed’s stirring entrance into the arena gave the Knicks an emotional lift, but he scored only two baskets and left the game. It was Fraziers’s 36 points, 19 assists, seven rebounds and smothering defense that lifted the Knicks to victory. Here are Frazier’s reflections:

“My biggest decision before Game 7 of the 1970 Finals was, “What I am going to wear tonight?’ I didn’t have that enthusiasm because I didn’t know whether Willis was going to play. Only when I got to the Garden did I find out it was dubious whether he would. In the locker room everybody is asking, ‘Is Willis playing? Is Willis playing?’ Coach Holzman became concerned. He said, ‘Hey guys, I don’t care if Willis plays or not. We’ve gotta play, so forget about Reed. Just try to get focused on the game.’ So when we left the locker room we still had no idea if Willis would play. People think it was premeditated, that it was planned and we were just waiting until he came out, but we were just as flabbergasted as the crowd and the Lakers.

“I saw the whole Lakers team standing around and staring at this man. And Willis set the tempo. He made the first two shots and that was it. We said, ‘The captain is ready. Half of Willis Reed is better than anybody else we could put out there.’ So he provided the inspiration, and in a way I provided the devastation. That was perhaps my best game as a player considering what was on the line---a championship. But entering that game I never thought that I had to score, I had to rebound. I just let it happen, I let the game come to me. Normally Holzman was telling me to hit the open man. But in this particular game I was the open man.”