New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, or more simply as the Knicks, are a professional American basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks play within the National Basketball Association as part of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The squad plays its home games at Madison Square Park, an arena that they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. They are one of two New York City-based NBA teams; the other the Brooklyn Nets. Besides the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams left at their original venue. The team, formed in 1946 by Ned Irish, was one of the founding members of the American Basketball Association, which became the NBA after integrating with the current National Basketball League in 1949. The Knicks had been successful in their early years and were perennial playoff competitors under the franchise's first head coach, Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950 the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of them missed commitment. Lapchick left in 1956 and the team went on to falter afterwards. It wasn't until the late 1960s that the Knicks started to regain their old dominance, after Red Holzman was the head coach. Holzman successfully led the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success which included six playoff appearances; however, they did not compete in the NBA Finals. The Patrick Ewing Future Hall of Fame center led the 1990s playoff-level Knicks; this time was characterized by violent rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. During this time they were known for playing strong defense under the head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, making two appearances at the 1994 and 1999 NBA Finals. They were, however, unable to win an NBA championship during this time. Since 2000 the Knicks have struggled to reclaim their previous victories but they won their first division title in 19 years in 2012–13, led by a nucleus of forward Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. In the Eastern Conference semifinals they were eventually defeated by the Indiana Pacers, and have failed to reach the playoffs ever since. In 1946, basketball, especially college basketball, became a growing, highly lucrative sport in New York City. At the time, hockey was another popular sport and generated considerable profits; however, the stadiums were not commonly used. The 1930s, after meeting Boston Garden owner Walter A. Brown, the sports editor at the Boston American was Max Kase, a New York sportswriter. Kase invented the idea of an amateur football league to highlight college talent after graduation, and felt it would become profitable if properly arranged. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to collect additional cash when the hockey teams were either not playing or on the road, contacted some arena owners. On 6 June 1946, Kase and Brown, along with a group of seventeen others, met at the Commodore Hotel in New York City as the Basketball Association of America, where charter franchises were granted to major cities around the country. In 1964, franchise fortunes started to take a gradual turn. Willis Reed, who made an immediate impact on the floor with his efforts and was named NBA Rookie of the Year, has been drafted by The Knicks. Nevertheless the members of the team were still in action. In an attempt to reorganize the Knicks named former star Harry Gallatin as head coach, thus reassigning Donovan to the position of general manager. After a bad start in 1965, another retired Knick, Dick McGuire, replaced his retired Gallatin teammate at halfway through the season. The organization broke it into five new contracts in preparation for the 2019–20 season as a result of having a projected $74 million in cap space following the Porziis contract. The Knicks agreed terms with Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson, former position players, and also signed forward Bobby Portis. The Squad then signed former lottery picks Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle. The Knicks fired Steve Mills on 4 February 2020 after seven seasons as tyrant with Scott Perry taking over on an temporary basis. On March 2nd Leon Rose was named Team Chief.