[Highlight] The 1999 New York Knicks, the first ever 8 seed team to make the NBA Finals
This team was so magical. So fun. I love how they would run, run and run. Man it would have been great to see the team healthy against the Spurs. But we got revenge years later.
Hearing Clyde and Breen at the end really threw me for a loop. Incredibly lucky and something special to have these two be the voice of the Knicks for almost 30 years
I’m just happy they were able to see this team finally win it all again. I didn’t want 1999 to be the last time they got to experience the chances of us possibly winning it.
I think Clyde hangs it up soon I think he was holding out for this, it meant so much for the city obviously but all the former knicks being truly apart of it made it all the more special
I think he’ll go a couple more years. See this mini period through. But yeah he’s 81 this season. Maybe he pares back the schedule sooner.
i think it depends on well we do this year. If its a second round exit and looks like this year was lightning in a bottle ( no way am i disparaging one of the best playoff runs of OAT) then i see him calling it
He apparently signed an extension not long ago. Breen mentioned it on air but didn’t say how long.
run, run, run? That team’s fast break was Allan Houston catching a pass with 8 seconds on the shot clock and going to work.
You’re both in-between. In the playoffs when Ewing was playing, they still used the style from the mid-90s Knicks: half-court, post-ups, mixed with ISO. Spree and Camby were the first off the bench. This gave the other team’s bench fits as the play style was transition.
After Ewing got hurt, and Spree was added to the starting lineup, they primarily relied on either ISO, then transition when Camby and Childs came in.
LJ telling Childs “hold up, i still gotta hit a shot” is eerily reminiscent of OG telling Towns “hold up, we still gotta get a stop”
The Big L J
Met LJ at a charity golf tournament. BIG dude but not as tall as I would expect. I’m 6’1” and he didn’t tower over me. Great dude though and just a zen demeanor.
Grandmama was brilliant man I loved that whole marketing campaign
I think it was Reggie Miller who said on Open Court way back in the day that it was one of the worst kept secrets among NBA players in the 90s that Larry Johnson was really closer to 6’4”-6’5”. Incredibly powerful athlete, one of my favorite players ever. It’s such a shame injuries robbed him of a longer, healthier career. He was only 30 in this finals run. This Knicks team had some of my other favorite players in Camby and Spreewell, as well.
I wish they won. They were so much fun to watch.
Should this really count as a true 8 seed? Wasnt it a lockout shortened season?
it was, a 50 game season. but still to enter all series without home court and make the finals is impressive. especially with ewing hurt for a good amount
Just for the record, Ewing got hurt in Game 2 of the ECF, which the Knicks ended up winning to tie the series headed back to NY
Correct for the most part, but Knicks won game 1 of that series and lost game 2
I dont think that home court is as advantageous as some ppl think. It doesnt do that much according to stats
dude are you legit insane?
EVERY single nba player says a series starts when a team loses at home.
which stats?
It was a funky season, and the Knicks had traded two long term stars, Oakley and Starks, for Marcus Camby and Latrell Sprewell. It took a while for the team to gel together and figure out how to play with each other. They also had a lot of overlap in positions - Camby was more of a center but they still had Ewing, they had to play Sprewell at SF out of position because they already had Houston, LJ had to shift to PF even though he was more of a small forward by 90s standards. Their PGs Ward and Childs were mediocre.
This explains why they were an 8 seed and got better as the season went on.
How close were they to the 1 seed in the regular season?
Only 6 games back which is less than the 3 seeds this year were on the 1, the 50 games absolutely warped the seedings. Funny note the Hornets who were only one game back of the Knicks jump in the lottery and got the third pick that year.
Thanks yea that’s so close. I guess it’s more impressive in the fact Ewing was injured but I did know the Knicks were always better than the 8 seed in previous seasons.
If you want to test yourself with some Knicks trivia, see how many of the 11 players you can name who played in that playoff run.
10⁄11 !!!
Got the same score and wanted to kick myself when I saw the one I missed
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You realize you’re spoiling it for anyone that wanted to try?
I grew up a sixers fan but my mom was from NYC area and is a diehard NY sports fan. I remember this run. I wanted them to win so badly for her. Still root for them when they’re not playing the Sixers which is generally regarded as a no-no.
If Patrick Ewing played in the 1999 NBA Finals they would have won most likely
lol no, and no one who was old enough to watch the game then and wasn’t the most delusional Knicks fan believes that
Such a terrible call lol
Hahaha yea
I don’t feel bad because there was an even worse call given to Miller earlier in that game
I lost my 13-year-old mind when that 4-point play happened.
This was one of the first finals I remember 🧡 💙
Hell yea, my fav team ever
If Ewing was healthy in the finals, it would have been interesting.
This was a #8 seeded team in name only. They underachieved all season, Dave Checkets got fired, and the team exploded in the playoffs in a weak eastern conference.
The Atlanta Hawks were actually one of the worst #4 seeds known to mankind in nba history. They were swept.
That hawks team was coming off two consecutive 50 win seasons with more or less the same roster throughout, and had the second best defensive rating in the league that year
50 wins meant nothing then. They had a lot of trouble with Detroit in first round and were lucky to advance.
Watching this run live was crazy, every series everyone had better records and in paper, better teams, and the Knicks just kept clawing series after series, if they had won a chip it would have been legendary but the freaking Spurs were in the middle of Duncan, Ginobli and Parker prime.
Parker and Ginobli weren’t on the Spurs yet
Mario Elie killed us in 1994 (Rockets) and 1999 (Spurs) :‘(
Tony Parker didn’t play for the Spurs until 2003-ish.
Yeah, Parker’s rookie season was in 01/02, and Manu’s was in 02/03. Hell even if Manu hadn’t taken a few years before coming over (drafted in 99), he still wouldn’t have been on this particular Spurs team.
Since the Knicks have finally ended their drought, one can have appreciation again for the franchise history. They’ve been a part of a lot of moments across so many eras, especially when you think about the big picture
That camby dunk on the Hawks was sick. Head above the rim stuff
Two guys who were both knocked out by the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 1995 NCAA tourney were in the finals (Camby and Duncan).
I will always wonder what would have happened if Ewing could have played in the Finals.
Salty ass commentators lol