This book has been years in the making. And it did not disappoint.
I wasn’t a big NBA fan in the 1990s. College was more my thing (Let’s goooooo Murr-Land!/clapclap). To the extent that I followed the league in that time, I was aware of two things: 1. Michael Jordan’s Bulls won everything, 2. Patrick Ewing’s Knicks were the toughest ticket in Manhattan.
As I got older and read more about the league, I began to be fascinated with the Knicks of that time: their revival under the leadership of Pat Riley, their gory style of ball that inspired permanent reform in the league, their blood feuds with Jordan’s Bulls and the Heat after Riley bolted for South Beach.
This team was crying out for a fun history. And noted basketball writer Chris Herring delivers.
Covering the team from it’s decrepit 80s to it’s glorious 90s and re-descent into irrelevancy, Herring does a great job showing how the Knicks were built, coached and cajoled to just shy of greatness. It’s a snapshot of an especially popular team at an interesting point in the NBA’s history.
Herring also gets why this team resonated with New Yorkers so much: they won but they also won in the grittiest style possible. People associate glitz and glamor with New York City but aside from the well-heeled scions and captains of industry who line the courtside seats (Spike Lee, a true NYer, excluded), it’s a blue collar town and the Knicks were a blue collar team. Never stylish, they won the game and often the fight. There are few things that unite the town more than the Knicks and NY, which was booming in the 90s, was galvanized by the team.
Definitely read this if you’re even the most indifferent of basketball fans. Herring’s style is easily digested, yet thorough enough to give a clear picture of the team and its time.
