If you asked New Yorkers in the 90s who was the face of the New York Knicks, they would tell you Patrick Ewing. Maybe some would give credit to Allan Houston or John Starks, there would even be a stray Latrell Sprewell in there. But, if you asked them which non-athlete best represented the Knicks, they would all inevitably tell you that man was Spike Lee. The all-time great director had his own contributions to basketball culture, from He’s Got Game to Do the Right Thing, but he was also at every game. He was the Knicks. He was their representative to everyone else. He was the ideal Knicks fan.
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Years have passed, and Lee is not nearly the omnipresent super fan he once was. However, even if you consider that absence, Lee is still a leading historian of all things Knicks. His opinion should still be considered and listened to.
That’s why Spike made an appearance on First Take to discuss the Knicks and their playoff run, which is currently impeded by the Boston Celtics. After going through expectations for the pivotal Game 6 in Madison Square Garden, the whole panel discussed Jalen Brunson’s case to make the pantheon of all-time great Knicks. Lee obviously had his own thoughts on this debate.
“Willis [Reed], [Walt] Clyde [Frazier], Bernard King for the time he was there, Carmelo [Anthony], yeah, I think he’s our guy.” Spike continued. “He’s putting the whole team on his shoulders.”
While some fans may be offended by the absence of a certain Patrick Ewing, Lee did add him to the list later in the segment. As the panel went on, they started weighing the importance of a championship. The Knicks last won the title in 1973, more than 50 years ago.
Stephen A. Smith was determined to say his own piece. “Championship is the requirement of course,” he started, “because Walt Clyde Frazier and those cats, you can’t usurp them when they’re the ones that last delivered a championship. But, Jalen Brunson… he’s got to be up on that list.”
As both men mentioned, it has been 26 years since the Knicks last made a Finals appearance, so fans have longed for a title for a very long time. Willis Reed and Walt Clyde Frazier justifiably have their spots atop the all-time Knicks list for the rings they provided in ’70 and ’73. Bernard King was one of the most underrated players ever, who set records while trying to carry the Knicks in the 80s.
In the more modern eras, Patrick Ewing won 56% of the games he played as a Knicks and buoyed a failing era of New York basketball. Carmelo Anthony was the face of the Knicks for the childhood of many of the current fans of the game. He still boasts the most points in MSG history with 63 and still lives in Brooklyn.
Still, Brunson belongs in that conversation. Since being acquired in free agency in 2022, Brunson averages close to 27 points per game, while leading to the playoffs three straight years. Before the start of the season, Brunson became the 36th player to be named the Captain of the Knicks. Additionally, the diminutive point guard won Clutch Player of the Year this year for his monstrous list of late-game Herculean efforts.
If Brunson can lead the Knicks to the Conference Finals, let alone the Finals themselves, he would be the first leading Knick to drive playoff success to that extent in a quarter of a decade. If he were to win those Finals, he would break a 50-year curse of difficulty and championship irrelevancy. That put him in contention for the title of top Knick ever.
