70 Fun Facts About New York Knicks

Which arena did the Knicks move into in 1968?

The fourth building to carry the name, it opened in 1968 on top of Penn Station and by 2025 was the NBA's oldest arena in use.

In what year were the Knicks founded as a charter member of the Basketball Association of America?

Alongside the Celtics they are one of only two original teams still playing in their original city; the BAA merged with the NBL to form the NBA three years later.

The 'Knickerbocker' name traces back to a pen name used by which American writer?

The name came to describe descendants of the original Dutch settlers and, eventually, New Yorkers in general; the franchise picked it by drawing votes from a hat.

Which arena president was awarded the New York franchise in 1946?

Sportswriter Max Kase had hoped to run the team himself, but the arena's rules required the Garden to own any pro team that played there.

The Knicks played the first game in BAA history on November 1, 1946, against which team?

They won 68-66 at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of 7,090 fans, with Leo Gottlieb scoring 14 points.

Where did the Knicks hold their first training camp in 1946?

Twenty-five players spent three weeks at the Nevele Country Club working out twice a day, and the New York natives clicked immediately.

Who was the Knicks' first full-time head coach, hired from St. John's?

He asked to stay at St. John's one more season, so Neil Cohalan served as interim coach in year one. He then led the team to nine straight playoff trips and three straight Finals.

Which 5-foot-7 guard, signed in 1947, became the first non-white player in the BAA?

The Japanese-American Utah star played just three games for the Knicks, but the NBA now recognizes him as its first non-white player.

In 1950 the Knicks became the first pro basketball team to sign an African American player. Who was he?

He came from the Harlem Globetrotters, played first base in the Negro leagues, and got his nickname as a boy from his love of soft drinks.

Wilt Chamberlain scored his record 100 points against the Knicks in 1962 in which town?

The Warriors won 169-147; the Knicks failed to reach the playoffs at all during coach Eddie Donovan's tenure.

Before their 2026 title, in which two years had the Knicks won the NBA championship?

Both titles came against the Los Angeles Lakers under Red Holzman, with the second won in five games.

Which coach's 613 victories with the Knicks are honored by a retired 'number' in the rafters?

He was Coach of the Year in 1970 and one of the few men to win an NBA title as both a player (with Rochester in 1951) and a coach.

In 1969-70 the Knicks set a then-NBA record by winning how many consecutive games?

They finished 60-22, the best record in franchise history at the time, and finished on top of the whole league.

Which injured captain limped out for Game 7 of the 1970 Finals and scored the Knicks' first baskets?

He went scoreless afterwards, but the moment is one of the most famous in NBA history; that season he became the first player to win All-Star Game MVP, regular season MVP and Finals MVP.

Which guard posted 36 points and 19 assists in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals?

He added seven rebounds and six steals in a game ESPN has called one of the best Game 7s ever played.

Which actor's on-screen fedora inspired the 'Clyde' nickname of the Knicks' Hall of Fame point guard?

The hat resembled the one worn as Clyde Barrow in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde; the nickname stuck for life and followed him into the broadcast booth.

Knicks forward Bill Bradley later spent 18 years as a United States senator representing which state?

The Princeton graduate and Rhodes Scholar played his whole career for the Knicks, then ran for president in 2000.

Which guard nicknamed 'The Pearl' arrived from Baltimore in 1971 and formed the 'Rolls-Royce backcourt'?

A Winston-Salem sportswriter had called his baskets 'Earl's pearls'; both the Bullets and the Knicks retired his number.

Championship forward Dave DeBusschere also pitched in the major leagues for which team?

He threw a shutout against Cleveland in 1963, and at 24 became the youngest coach in NBA history as the Pistons' player-coach.

Which future 11-time championship coach was a bench player and defensive specialist for the 1970s Knicks?

He credited Red Holzman as a major influence, and returned to run the front office from 2014 to 2017 with far less success.

Bernard King scored 60 points for the Knicks on Christmas Day 1984 against which team?

He had 40 by halftime and led the league in scoring that season, only to shred his knee three months later.

The Knicks won the very first NBA draft lottery. In what year?

They used the number one pick on Georgetown center Patrick Ewing, who won Rookie of the Year and led all rookies in scoring and rebounding.

Patrick Ewing is the Knicks' all-time leading scorer with roughly how many points?

He played 1,039 games for the franchise, and his number 33 was raised to the rafters in 2003.

Which franchise record, set by the team's Hall of Fame point guard in the 1970s, did Ewing never break?

His total of 4,791 still stands; Ewing eventually passed his marks for games, minutes, field goals and points.

Which point guard, drafted in 1987, won Rookie of the Year for the Knicks?

He arrived alongside new coach Rick Pitino and even drew MVP consideration as the Knicks returned to the playoffs.

Rick Pitino stunned New York in 1989 by leaving the Knicks to coach which college?

His 32-year-old assistant Stu Jackson took over as the youngest head coach in the league.

What was Pat Riley doing when the Knicks hired him in May 1991?

He installed a rough, defense-first style built around Ewing and John Starks that defined the decade.

John Starks' famous 1993 left-handed 'Dunk' came over Horace Grant and which superstar?

He was undrafted and had played at four Oklahoma colleges; the Knicks still lost the series after leading 2-0.

Who beat the Knicks in seven games in the 1994 NBA Finals?

John Starks shot 2-for-18 in Game 7, and the loss cost New York a Rangers-and-Knicks championship double in the same spring.

In 1994-95 John Starks became the first NBA player to make how many three-pointers in a single season?

His 217 broke a professional record dating to the ABA in 1969, and he remains the Knicks' career leader in threes.

Which Knicks forward, known for messages shaved into his hair, won Sixth Man of the Year in 1995?

The next season he led the whole league in minutes played, then was traded to Charlotte for Larry Johnson.

In the 1997 playoffs against Miami, Ewing and other Knicks were suspended mainly for what infraction?

The rule was later amended to cover leaving the 'bench area'; the Knicks blew a 3-1 lead with players suspended across Games 6 and 7.

Whose bouncing runner with 0.8 seconds left knocked out the top-seeded Heat in the 1999 first round?

It was only the second time an eighth seed had beaten a first seed, and the run did not stop there.

The 1999 Knicks were the first team ever to reach the NBA Finals as what seed?

They squeezed into the playoffs at 27-23 in the lockout-shortened season and lost Ewing to injury before the conference finals.

Whose four-point play won Game 3 of the 1999 East finals 92-91 for the Knicks over Indiana?

Nicknamed 'Grandmama' from his Converse commercials, he had arrived from Charlotte in the Anthony Mason trade.

In both 1999 and 2026, the Knicks met which opponent in the NBA Finals?

They lost in five in 1999 to David Robinson and Tim Duncan, then won in five in 2026.

Latrell Sprewell's Warriors contract was voided for choking which coach?

He came in a package for John Starks and dueled Tim Duncan in the deciding game of the 1999 Finals.

Patrick Ewing was traded in September 2000 to which team?

His 15 seasons produced two Finals trips but no title; he finally got a ring as a Knicks front-office ambassador in 2026.

Reggie Miller's playoff duels with which celebrity fan defined the Knicks-Pacers rivalry?

Miller compared the feud to the Hatfields and McCoys, earned the nickname 'The Knick-Killer', and once scored eight points in the final nine seconds of a playoff game.

Which point guard did team president Isiah Thomas acquire by trade during the 2003-04 season?

The Coney Island native's messy tenure ended with a buyout in 2009 that let him sign with the Celtics.

Larry Brown was fired after one season as Knicks coach in 2006 with a buyout of how much?

The team had gone 23-59, second worst in the league, and Isiah Thomas took over the coaching job himself.

The rule allowing only a tip-in when 0.3 seconds or less remain is named after which former Knick?

David Lee exploited it in 2006, tipping in a Jamal Crawford inbounds pass with 0.1 seconds left to win in double overtime.

Jeremy Lin, whose 2012 'Linsanity' run rescued the Knicks' season, played college ball where?

He got no athletic scholarship offers, went undrafted, and had been claimed off waivers by the Knicks just weeks before his breakout.

From which team did the Knicks acquire Carmelo Anthony in a blockbuster trade in February 2011?

New York sent out Felton, Gallinari, Chandler, Mozgov and picks; Chauncey Billups came along in the deal.

Carmelo Anthony's franchise-record 62 points in 2014 came against which team?

He added 13 rebounds; the total also set the Madison Square Garden single-game scoring record.

Which Latvian big man did the Knicks draft fourth overall in 2015?

He was traded to Dallas in January 2019 after a meeting left the front office convinced he wanted out.

What is the worst record in franchise history, posted in both 2014-15 and 2018-19?

The 2014-15 team also lost 16 straight, the longest skid in the club's history, and bought out Amar'e Stoudemire's contract a year early.

Who was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2021, the first Knicks coach so honored since 1993?

He ended an eight-year playoff drought in his first season; Julius Randle won Most Improved Player the same spring.

Which team did the Knicks acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from in the 2024 off-season?

Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo went the other way, and the Knicks reached their first conference finals in 25 years the following spring.

Who won the NBA Finals MVP award when the Knicks claimed the 2026 championship?

He was also named MVP of the 2025 NBA Cup, and became one of five players ever to win an NCAA title, national player of the year, an NBA title and Finals MVP.

At which college did the Knicks' 2026 Finals MVP win two national championships?

He was national player of the year as a junior, went 33rd overall to Dallas in 2018, and signed with New York in July 2022.

By how many points did the Knicks trail before their record comeback in Game 4 of the 2026 Finals?

They closed the series out in Game 5, going 16-3 in the playoffs with a 13-game winning streak along the way.

The 2026 championship ended a Knicks title drought of how many years?

Their playoff run of just three losses tied the 2023-24 Celtics for the third best ever, behind only the 2001 Lakers and 2017 Warriors.

Which in-season tournament did the Knicks win during the 2025-26 season?

They beat San Antonio in the final, a preview of the Finals matchup a few months later.

Who was hired as Knicks head coach in July 2025?

He replaced Tom Thibodeau, who was fired days after taking the team to the conference finals, and won a title in his first season.

Why did the Knicks switch from blue and orange to navy and crimson red in 1979?

E. Michael Burke was a University of Pennsylvania man; the maroon era lasted only until 1983.

What character does the Knicks' original 1946 logo show dribbling a basketball?

It was drawn by New York World-Telegram cartoonist Willard Mullin; the classic 'roundball' logo replaced it in 1964.

The orange alternate uniforms unveiled in 2013 were scrapped after the team posted what record in them?

They were essentially a mirror image of the blue road uniforms and debuted on Halloween in Chicago.

In 2014 Forbes valued the Knicks as the world's most valuable basketball franchise at how much?

That put them $50 million ahead of the Lakers and nearly double the Brooklyn Nets, even as the team was heading for its worst season ever.

Marv Albert, the 'voice of the Knicks' from 1967 to 2004, first worked for the team in what role?

He called his first Knicks game in 1963 filling in for his mentor Marty Glickman, and his trademark 'Yes!' followed.

Which New York nickname was on the roundel of the Knicks' 2020 alternate uniform designed with Kith?

Kith went on to design several more City editions, including a 2023 pinstriped set with 'New York' written twice.

The Knicks' 2017-18 'City' uniform paid tribute to which group of New Yorkers?

It featured a ladder, a hydrant and a helmeted silhouette, and was designed with the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

Which streak did the Knicks endure in the 2014-15 season, the longest in franchise history?

The 16th loss came in London in an NBA Global Game against Milwaukee.

At which Catskills resort did the Knicks hold their first training camp in 1946?

Twenty-five players, mostly New York natives, worked out twice a day for three weeks.

Which early Knicks guard retired as the franchise's leading scorer with 10,449 points?

He was later passed by Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed among others.

Which center, drafted in 1964, was named NBA Rookie of the Year for the Knicks?

He would go on to captain the 1970 and 1973 championship teams.

Which backup center did the Knicks send to the Bulls for Charles Oakley before the 1988-89 season?

The Knicks went 52-30 that season and won their first division title in 18 years.

Whom did the Knicks trade Charles Oakley to the Toronto Raptors for before the 1998-99 season?

The same off-season brought Latrell Sprewell from Golden State; both helped the eighth-seeded Knicks reach the 1999 Finals.

A 2007 jury found Isiah Thomas and MSG liable for sexual harassment of which executive?

The jury levied $11.6 million in punitive damages against MSG, later reduced slightly.

In which New York suburb did the Knicks' D-League affiliate, purchased in 2013, begin play?

The Westchester Knicks started in the 2014-15 season, the same period Phil Jackson was appointed president of basketball operations.