The New York Knicks’ season ended in brutal fashion on May 19 when they were eliminated with a Game 7 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the second round. Still, a staggering streak for the organization is still alive thanks to the result of this year’s conference finals.
As one of the Basketball Association of America’s original franchises, the Knicks have been around for 77 years. Though they have eight NBA Finals appearances and two championships, they were somehow connected to each Finals from 1947 through 2023.
Reddit user Blacramento pointed out the phenomenon in 2019 after the Toronto Raptors advanced to that year’s Finals. Famous former Knick Jeremy Lin was on that Toronto roster, maintaining New York’s streak of having a former, current or future player in every Finals.
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Woods went through each Finals and pointed out one player in each series who was on the Knicks at one point in their career. The Knicks didn’t reach the Finals during their first four seasons, but Philadelphia Warrior Ralph Kaplowitz (1947), Baltimore Bullet Connie Simmons (1949), Washington Capitol Sonny Hertzberg (1950) and Minneapolis Laker Slater Martin (1951) kicked off the streak by playing in New York at some point in their BAA/NBA careers.
The streak kept going after Woods’ post first went up. Here’s a look at the players that were pointed out in the post from 2010 to 2019, along with players from each Finals since the post went up:
- 2010: Nate Robinson, Boston Celtics
- 2011: Tyson Chandler, Dallas Mavericks
- 2012: Eddy Curry, Miami Heat
- 2013: Tracy McGrady, San Antonio Spurs
- 2014: Toney Douglas, Miami Heat
- 2015: David Lee, Golden State Warriors
- 2016: Channing Frye, Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2017: Matt Barnes, Golden State Warriors
- 2018: J.R. Smith, Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2019: Jeremy Lin, Toronto Raptors
- 2020: J.R. Smith, Los Angeles Lakers
- 2021: Bobby Portis, Milwaukee Bucks
- 2022: Luke Kornet, Boston Celtics
- 2023: DeAndre Jordan, Denver Nuggets
The 2024 NBA Finals are now set, and both the Celtics and Mavericks feature former Knicks.
NBA
Starting in Boston, Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks’ No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, is set to return in the Finals after missing the Celtics’ last 11 playoff games with a calf injury. Additionally, Kornet is back in the Finals as one of Boston’s backup big men and bench forward Svi Mykhailiuk played 13 games for New York in 2022-23.
Over in Dallas, Tim Hardaway Jr. had two separate stints with the Knicks. Hardaway and Porzingis were actually sent from New York to Dallas together in a 2019 trade. Porzingis went on to play in Washington before being dealt to Boston last summer, while Hardaway has stayed in Dallas ever since.
While Hardaway hasn’t sported a Knicks uniform in five years, he gives New York fans another reason to root against Boston in this year’s Finals.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article was published in May 2022.