The Knicks will have a familiar footprint at tonight’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony, with three names in this year’s class tied to New York in different ways.
The ceremony is set for Saturday, August 15, at 7:00 p.m. ET and will air live on NBA TV.
Amar’e Stoudemire is the Knicks connection most fans will remember first. After eight strong seasons with the Phoenix Suns, he arrived in New York and immediately delivered a huge 2010-11 debut. That season ended with him ninth in MVP voting and on the All-NBA second team.
The run in New York, though, was never as smooth as the opening act suggested. Health kept getting in the way, and Stoudemire remained with the team until he was waived in February 2015.
His best Knicks team came in 2012-13, but even then he missed the entire first round of the playoffs and didn’t come back until Game 3 of the second round because of a right knee injury. In 255 regular-season games with New York, he averaged 17.3 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Mike D’Antoni’s Hall of Fame case comes from his coaching career, especially the “Seven Seconds or Less” offense he ran in Phoenix. During his five seasons with the Suns, they won 65% of their regular-season games and reached the conference finals twice.
His time in New York came next, when he coached the Knicks for four seasons from 2008-09 through 2011-12. It was a much rougher stretch.
New York was swept in its only playoff series under D’Antoni, in 2011, and he finished 121-167 with the team. He later got back to the conference finals with the Houston Rockets in 2018.
Doc Rivers is entering the Hall for what he accomplished as a head coach, including 1,194 victories, which rank sixth all time. He also won the 2008 title with the Boston Celtics. His coaching legacy, at least in the public eye, is often tied to the three 3-1 blown series leads that follow him around.
Rivers never coached the Knicks, but he did wear the uniform. He played 99 regular-season games for New York from 1992 to 1994 and opened the 1993-94 season as the team’s starting point guard, the year the Knicks reached the NBA Finals.
His season was cut short early by an ACL tear, which led New York to trade for Derek Harper. The team later waived Rivers after just three appearances the following year.
His son, Austin, also spent time with the Knicks, appearing in 21 games in 2020-21.
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