The
New York Knickerbockers,
commonly referred to as the
Knicks, are a professional
basketball team based in
New York City,
New York. The Knicks are part of the
Atlantic Division of the
Eastern Conference in the
National Basketball Association (NBA). The team, established by
Ned Irish in 1946, was one of the founding members of the
Basketball Association of America (BAA), which became the NBA
after merging with the rival
National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949. The team plays at
Madison Square Garden, above
Pennsylvania Station in the
borough of
Manhattan, and along with the
Boston Celtics is one of only two NBA teams still located in its original city.
The Knicks were successful during their early years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchise's first head coach
Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the
NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts. Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team subsequently began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when
Red Holzman became head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance. Holzman successfully guided the Knicks to two championship titles in
1970 and
1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success that included six playoff appearances; however, they failed to participate in the NBA Finals.
The playoff-level Knicks of the 1990s were led by future Hall of Fame center
Patrick Ewing; this era was marked by three passionate rivalries with
Alonzo Mourning's
Miami Heat,
Reggie Miller's
Indiana Pacers, and
Michael Jordan's
Chicago Bulls. During this time, they were well known for displaying tough defense under head coach
Pat Riley before
Jeff Van Gundy assumed head coaching responsibilities in 1995. Their success during this decade was highlighted by two appearances in the NBA Finals, in 1994 and 1999. Despite being a consistent playoff contender, they never attained an
NBA Championship in their two championship appearances.
Since 2000, the Knicks have struggled to regain their former glory, advancing to the postseason five times in the last 14 years. Notably, in 2012–13 the franchise won its first division title in 19 years, but were eliminated in the second round by the Pacers. According to
Forbes, the Knicks
are the most valuable NBA team, worth approximately $1.4 billion U.S.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knicks
