Kyrie's Hypocrisy, Clyde's Game 7 And the Fourth Installment of "The Top 75 Knicks"
Over the final five games of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, Marcus Camby averaged 15.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 2.6 steals
Before diving back into ranking the greatest Knicks of all time, I wanted to take a moment to discuss the most recent hypocritical comments from Nets point guard Kyrie Irving.
For those that may have missed it, in last Wednesday's episode of The ETCs with Kevin Durant and Eddie Gonzalez, Irving called himself a "martyr" when discussing his stance against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
"I was not expecting a mandate to be brought down in a way where it wasn't going to let me play at all," Irving said. "I had the opportunity to play away games still, but there was no plan in place, there was no vision of how it was going to work for our team. And I think that really impacted not just me, but a lot of people. Just had to sit in that hot seat for a little bit and deal with it. The life of a martyr, bro."
Now, remember that back in October, when Irving confirmed he would not get vaccinated (defying the advice of doctors and health professionals), Kyrie stated he was "standing with all those that believe what is right" and took issue with the notion of Americans "losing jobs to mandates." The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Irving regarded himself as a "voice for the voiceless."
Irving initially declared his reason for refusing to get vaccinated was to stand in solidarity with those willing to forfeit their livelihood to protest against what they felt were unfair mandates. Yet, five months later, Irving was cleared to play in home games only after NYC Mayor Eric Adams issued the "Kyrie Carve Out" exemption - which only benefited a handful of rich professional athletes. How, pray tell, did this minimally impactful measure address and/or remedy the far-reaching "unjust" mandates Irving previously declared he was fighting against?
Did Kyrie ever so much as acknowledge the thousands of cops and teachers and firefighters who lost their jobs over the past few months due to the mandate? And yet Irving (the same dude who is gonna sign a $100 million contract this summer) has the audacity to call himself a martyr?
Oh, and in that same podcast, Irving argued that he belonged on the list of the 75 greatest players in league history because he represents "the mastery of basketball." This is from a guy who averaged 15 points on 37% shooting in the last three playoff games he's played in before getting swept out of the postseason. Contrast that with the comments from Giannis Antetokounmpo (a two-time MVP and the league's reigning Finals MVP) over the weekend:
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One other quick Knicks-related note: Yesterday was the 52nd anniversary of the single greatest performance in the history of the Knicks franchise. On May 8th, 1970, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Walt "Clyde" Frazier produced the following stat line:
36 points,
19 assists,
7 rebounds,
5 steals
And 1 championship.
In that contest, Clyde had more assists than the entire Lakers team combined. His 19 dimes are the most ever in a Game 7 of the Finals in league history. (Magic Johnson ranks second with 15.) Oh, and Clyde also scored more than Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor. In fact, Frazier nearly had more points (36) than Wilt and Baylor combined (40).
Besides Clyde, only two other players ever tallied more than 20 points and more than ten assists in a Game 7 of a Finals: Jerry West (1969) and LeBron James (2016)
While re-watching the game on YouTube over the weekend, I noticed that prior to tip-off, the TV announcers mentioned that both the Knicks and Lakers "will have extra motivation" to win the deciding contest - as the winning team gets to split $48,000 between the players and coaching staff. Amazing how times have changed…
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Okay, back to the rankings (the first, second and third installments can be found here):
29. Marcus Camby
The apex of Camby's tenure with the Knicks was the improbable run to the NBA Finals in 1999. When Patrick Ewing went down with an Achilles injury in the Eastern Conference Finals, Camby stepped in and stepped up. Over the final five games of that series, he averaged a whopping 15.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 2.6 steals. Larry Bird, who was the Pacers head coach at the time, called Camby the MVP of the ECF. The Camby Man also posted a Defensive Box Plus/Minus of 4.1 in 2000-01, the highest single-season mark in Knicks history. Camby was traded to the Nuggets in exchange for Antonio McDyess on Draft Day in 2002.
28. Nathaniel Clifton
Sweetwater was not merely a significant contributor on the court for the Knicks; he also made a tremendous impact off the floor. Drafted by New York in 1950, Clifton became the first African-American player to sign a contract with an NBA team. He was 27 years old at the time, having played for the New York Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters in his early 20s. He also played for the Chicago American Giants in Negro League baseball. The Knicks advanced to the NBA Finals in each of Clifton's first three seasons in New York. He averaged 10.3 points and 8.5 boards over his seven-year Knicks career.
27. Kurt Thomas
Kurt's claim to fame, other than the "Krazy Eyes" look he gave to officials after a questionable call, was leading the nation in both scoring (28.9 PPG) and rebounding (14.6 RPG) during his senior year at TCU. For five straight seasons with the Knicks – from 2000-01 to 2004-05 – Thomas averaged over 10 points per game. He averaged a career-best 14 points, to go along with 7.9 rebounds, in 2002-03. He averaged a double-double during the 2004-05 campaign (11.5 points and 10.4 rebounds). Thomas appeared in the 439 games for New York, which is the most by any Knick player this century (Melo ranks second with 412, and David Lee is third). Thomas ranks third all-time in franchise history in defensive rebounds (behind Oakley and Ewing) and fourth in blocks.
26. Walt Bellamy
Bellamy's career numbers are undeniably impressive. He is one of just nine players in NBA history to tally more than 20,000 points and more than 14,000 rebounds in his career. The others are Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, Robert Parish, Moses Malone, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. In four seasons with the Knicks, Bellamy averaged a double-double with 18.9 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. He also holds a unique NBA record: Most regular-season games played in one season (88), thanks to the midseason trade that brought Dave DeBusschere to the Knicks.
25. Larry Johnson
By the time LJ arrived in New York (via a swap for Anthony Mason in July of 1996), he was no longer the high-flying dunk machine that starred at UNLV and won the Rookie of the Year in Charlotte. A back injury robbed Johnson of his athleticism and forced him to reinvent himself. LJ did just that, developing a stellar low-post game and a reliable jumper. He never averaged more than 15.5 points or six rebounds per game during his Knicks career, but he was a steady, reliable force on both ends of the floor. And, of course, his four-point play against the Pacers in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals will never be forgotten by any Knick fan that witnessed it.