As the city of New York aches with anticipation at the prospect of LeBron James signing with the New York Knicks this summer, there are several reasons why New Yorkers should be tuning in to the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Upon closer examination, no pun intended, of the pageantry and hype surrounding this year’s Finals match-up, it should become evident that a rich cast of New York alumni have their respective hands on the renewal of, arguably, the best rivalry in professional sports history.
And the list of New York natives and former Knicks players is an illustrious one indeed. So if New York City has been looking for a single reason to take their eyes off the reality television drama that has become the life of LeBron James, here are five for their consideration.
5. Boston Celtics head coach Glenn ‘Doc’ Rivers
Prior to head coaching stints with the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics, ‘Doc’ Rivers was an All-Star point guard for the Atlanta Hawks.
After seven quality seasons in Atlanta (1983-1991), playing alongside Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, and one forgettable one with the Los Angeles Clippers (1991-1992), Rivers was shipped in a deal, that included Bo Kimble and Charles Smith, to New York for Mark Jackson prior to the 1992-93 season.
Although a member of the Knicks for only two seasons, Rivers would be part of the teams that went to the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals in consecutive years.
4. Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson’s ties to New York are also rooted in his playing days with the Knicks. Like Rivers, ‘The Zen Master’ was a second round draft pick but, unlike Boston’s head man, Jackson was selected by New York, where he would go on to play 13 seasons.
In addition, Jackson, as a top reserve and fan favorite, was a member of the Knicks’ first championship team in 1970 and its last championship squad in 1973.
And speaking of free agents, whether he leads the Los Angeles Lakers to their second straight NBA Championship or not, Jackson will hit the open market this summer as he is in the final year of his contract with the Lakers; a fact that the Knick front office should not overlook while finalizing their agenda for the next few months.
3. NBA on ABC broadcast team (Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy & Mark Jackson)
All three men responsible for telling the story of each game of the NBA Finals have strong ties to the New York area.
Play-by-play commentator Mike Breen was born and raised in New York City and graduated from Fordham University in 1983.
Breen, a 14-year NBA broadcasting veteran, is also the main voice for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network.
Breen’s color commentating broadcast partner, Jeff Van Gundy, served as a Knick assistant coach for six seasons before becoming the head coach in March of 1996.
During Van Gundy’s five-year tenure, the Knicks would make the playoffs every season and an NBA Finals appearance in 1999.
Van Gundy, a graduate of Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, would resign as Knicks head coach nineteen games into the 2001-02 season and, in the nine seasons since, New York would make the playoffs only once. In light of this, there is something to be said about getting out when the getting is good.
The third member of the aforementioned broadcasting triumvirate is Mark Jackson, who has the most ties to New York of them all.
Jackson was born and raised in Queens, New York and gained a reputation as one of the nation’s elite point guards while attending Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.
Jackson’s New York basketball legend only grew when he blossomed into a star at St. John’s University, which resulted in him being selected with the 18th pick in the 1987 NBA Draft by none other than the New York Knicks.
After averaging 13.6 points and 10.6 assists per game in his first season, Jackson was named the 1988 Rookie of the Year; and, along with Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, Jackson would help the Knicks become perennial playoff contenders for the next four seasons.
However, Jackson’s run in New York would come to an unceremonious end when he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers prior to the commencement of the 1991-92 season.
But even though Jackson would also play for the Indiana Pacers, the Denver Nuggets, the Toronto Raptors, the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets before retiring in 2004, he will always be a New Yorker at heart.
2. Los Angeles Lakers forwards Lamar Odom & Ron Artest
The games of the versatile Lamar Odom and the defensive-minded Ron Artest were shaped on the tough playgrounds of Queens, New York, with Artest being born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects, the largest housing project in the United States, and Odom being brought up in South Jamaica, Queens.
From their humble and poor beginnings, Artest and Odom, like hundreds of NBA players before them, would use basketball as an escape and, in their early years, would be teamed on the same Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team after becoming stand-outs in high school; Odom with Christ The King Regional High School and Redemption Christian Academy and Artest with La Salle Academy.
After gaining fame playing in some of New York City’s high-profile summer basketball tournaments at Nike Pro City, Hoops in the Sun in the Bronx, and Dyckman Park in Washington Heights, Artest would follow in Mark Jackson’s footsteps by becoming a stand-out at St. John’s; where he helped the Red Storm get to the Elite Eight in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Both Artest and Odom were first round draft picks in the 1999 NBA Draft and have taken circuitous routes to get to Los Angeles, while along the way establishing themselves as two of the most enigmatic players in the league.
And there is no doubt that the Queens natives must put their best feet forward in order for the Lakers to triumph in the Finals.
1. Boston Celtics reserve point guard Nate Robinson
After living in obscurity on Boston’s bench after being dealt by the Knicks at the trade deadline, Nate Robinson has reminded the basketball world why he was such a fan favorite in New York.
Robinson’s ‘13 points in 13 minutes’ performance in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic inspired the Celtics to victory in a game they needed to win to close out the series to avoid a Game 7 in Orlando and the potential of blowing a 3-0 series lead.
For an encore, Robinson scored 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench in a pivotal Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and played crucial minutes in the fourth quarter, to help lift the Celtics to victory yet again to even the series with the Lakers.
And, at the rate he’s going, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Robinson place his unique imprint on another one of the upcoming games in the Finals; which goes to show that a liability for one team can easily become an asset for another.
What can also be said is that New York is definitely in the house at the 2010 NBA Finals.
Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and videos recapping Game 4 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
Top 5 New York Ties to the NBA Finals
