The Knickerbocker who exudes the qualities of Pride, Tradition, and Class, is selected to receive the NBA Knicks Legends award. Six candidates have been selected over the past six decades and on March 23, 2009, these basketball legends were honored and received a special legends ring.
An 11 person committee which was selected by the Knicks Alumni Relations Department were responsible for selecting the Knicks players who were considered to be the greatest players of their decade. In the 1940's it was Carl Braun; 1950's Richie Guerin; 1960's Willis Reed; 1970's Walt Frazier; 1980's Bernard King; and in the 1990's it was none other than Patrick Ewing; and the Knickerbocker Legacy Award went to Dick McGuire.
McGuire was the first Knick to be honored, and Al Trautwig, master of ceremonies, announced that the award was to be renamed in McGuire's honor for the next decade of Knicks Legends. The fan favorite, however, appeared to be Walt "Clyde" Frazier, who has two NBA Championship rings, a "50 Greatest Players" ring, and now the Legends ring. But the crowd of 19,763 became really wild when Patrick Ewing took his place at center court to receive his ring.
Though the Knicks have sported some great players, it hasn't been since 1970 that they have won a championship. In fact, the Knicks have been one of the worst NBA teams since they traded Patrick Ewing in 2000. Under Ewing they were always contenders but just never were able to bring it on home. The 2009 season wasn't any better than previous seasons, securing the eighth straight losing season of the Knicks Franchise. Here's to hoping 2010 will be better, because it can't get much worse than being the worst team in the NBA.
Tags: ...
Comments (0):