Blood in the Garden: How the 90s Knicks Gave Rise to the Modern NBA

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

Despite decades of mediocrity, the New York Knicks inspire an almost religious devotion from their rabid fanbase. The Nets may play across town with three of the biggest stars in NBA history, but New York still bleeds blue and orange. That was never more evident than in the 1990s, when you could watch the Knicks fight on the court…figuratively and literally…at Madison Square Garden. Under the direction of head coach Pat Riley, and led by players like Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and John Starks, the Knicks pioneered a style of basketball that was physical, intimidating, and rarely beautiful. Chris Herring, author of Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks, explains how a team known for its tough guy image paved the way for the modern NBA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	ESPN Daily is presented by supercuts, the smarter, easier way to get a haircut.
0:07.0	It's not just any haircut, it's super cuts.
0:10.0	So Chris Herring, there is this video that I think about a lot too often, honestly.
0:20.0	The city has turned it into this mythological artifact already.
0:23.5	It is from after the next season opening win against the Boston Celtics this season.
0:28.2	And I think it truly captures the spiritual essence of Knicks fans.
0:34.7	Double fucking overtime!
0:37.0	What the fuck, baby? New York is fucking bad.
0:40.8	Knicks are here, baby. The Knicks are fucking here, babe.
0:43.9	Fresh out of God, baby. We're taking it all the way.
0:48.2	Bing bong.
0:50.8	So I'm just wondering when you see that video, when you hear that sound, what do you think?
0:57.4	It makes me think it's been so long, seemingly, since there's been something good,
1:02.4	and fans have to have something to unleash all of that.
1:05.8	Chris Herring is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and his book, Blood in the Garden.
1:10.1	The flagrant history of the
1:11.7	1990s New York Knicks, is out now.
1:15.2	And in that case, it was a single win over a team that's not even that good.
1:19.3	You know, there's no way of knowing that on opening night, maybe.
1:22.3	But this fan base is just so rabid and it's just in such anticipation of something happening
1:29.0	because it's just been such a long time since they've had a damn thing.
1:33.0	The last reference point that fans have of my age, your age, you know, older than that,
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