The Early Years

Their first few years were quite successful as they made it to the NBA Finals three years in a row starting from 1951. For many years after that, the Knicks were respected as a good team but did not enjoy any major success for a long time.

In 1969, the Knicks held an NBA record for the highest number of consecutive wins with eighteen victories in a row. It was in the 1970’s that the New York Knicks picked up pace again. They won their first NBA title in 1970 by defeating the deadly Los Angeles Lakers. They continue to be successful in the following seasons. They lost in the Finals to the Lakers in 1972. But the next year, they regained the NBA Title by beating their old rivals the Lakers again.

Willis Reed retired in 1974 and the team went downhill for a while after that. They had rather unsuccessful seasons for the next few years. In 1984, the Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing who went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award. In 1987, Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and under him the Knicks reached the playoffs once again.

The Knicks reached the NBA Finals again in 1994, after a gap of ten years. They lost the game however to the Houston Rockets. Over the next few years, the Knicks were down again as Ewing left the team. In 2005, they had the highest payroll in the League but their performance was amongst the lowest in the NBA. In the last couple of years, the Knicks have been rising again to become a team to reckon with. The current team has great players like Wilson Chandler, Jerome James, Jamal Crawford and Demetris Nichols.

The Current Staff

The Knicks are currently owned by James Dolan and the General Manager cum Head Coach is Isiah Thomas. They have won 2 NBA Championships, 8 Eastern Conference Titles and 8 Atlantic Division Titles in their career.

Retired Numbers

The Knicks have retired a few of their jersey numbers to honor their players. Some of these are Dick Barnett 12, Willis Reed 19, Bill Bradley 24, Earl Monroe 15 and Patrick Ewing 33. Apart from these players, some others reached the Basketball Hall of Fame including Harry Gallatin, Jerry Lucas, Head Coach Dick McGuire and Broadcaster Walt Frazier.