How Long It's Been: The Knicks Won a Playoff Game

And now, I return to an occasional feature of this blog, "How Long It's Been."

On April 29, 2001, the New York Knicks defeated the Toronto Raptors, 97-89, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This gave the Knicks a 2-games-to-1 lead in a Playoff series.

The Raptors won the next 2 games, including the deciding Game 5 at Madison Square Garden.

Okay, that's bad, but, hey, these are the Knicks, right? They're in the Playoffs every year.

That was 11 years and 3 days ago. Since then, in those 11 seasons (counting this one), the Knicks have appeared in the Playoffs 3 times, in a grand total of 10 Playoff games, and won exactly none of them.

How long has it been? Not long, you say? Certainly not as long as the 39 years it’s been since they last won a title?

How about this...

Since then, 3 NBA teams have moved: The Vancouver Grizzlies were in the process of moving to Memphis, the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans, and the Seattle SuperSonics moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.

There is an NBA team that has been founded since then, the Charlotte Bobcats, and in 3 fewer seasons they are the only team besides the Knicks to have not won at least 1 Playoff game.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 4 NBA Championships, the San Antonio Spurs 3, and 1 each has been won by the Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. Keep in mind that the Heat and Mavs had never won one before.

The New Jersey Nets, who are moving within the Tri-State Area to become the Brooklyn Nets, were a joke franchise, having won just 1 Playoff series in their 24 NBA seasons, after being the signature franchise of the ABA. The Nets won the Eastern Conference Championship the next 2 seasons and won 4 Atlantic Division titles, before being broken up. Still... The Nets? The biggest joke franchise in the history of New York area sports? More so even than the Mets? They reached 2 NBA Finals? And the Knicks couldn't win one single solitary Playoff GAME?

The Philadelphia 76ers also reached the Finals -- something they hadn't done in 18 years. The Heat and Mavericks had never reached the Finals before, and each has now done so twice (each time, against each other). The Cleveland Cavaliers had never reached the Finals before, but did. The Orlando Magic also reached the Finals.

Since the Knicks last won a Playoff game, the following franchises in the other 3 major league sports all won their 1st World Championship: The Arizona Diamondbacks, the team currently known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Anaheim Ducks.

The Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros, the Colorado Rockies, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers each won their 1st Pennant. The Bucs, the Saints, the Carolina Panthers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals advanced to their 1st Super Bowl. The Hurricanes, the Ducks, the Lightning, advanced to their 1st Stanley Cup Finals.

The Boston Red Sox won their 1st World Series in 86 years, the Chicago White Sox their 1st in 88, and the Giants their 1st in 56, or their 1st since moving to San Francisco. The Colts won their 1st Super Bowl in 36 years, or their 1st since moving to Indianapolis. The Chicago Blackhawks won their 1st Stanley Cup in 49 years, and the Boston Bruins their 1st in 39.

In 2001, the Knicks were coached by Jeff Van Gundy. Since then, counting him, they've gone through 7 head coaches -- 6 if you don't count Herb Williams as a permanent coach, 8 if you count his 2 interim stints separately. The last 2001 Knick still with the team continuously was Allan Houston, in 2005. The last 2 2001 Knicks still playing in the NBA were Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas, who both returned to the Knicks for one last shot in 2013.

Charlie Ward, the 1993 Heisman Trophy winner who led Florida State to the National Championship, was arguably the best quarterback in New York at the time, ahead of Kerry Collins of the Giants and Vinny Testaverde (the 1987 Heisman winner with Miami) and Chad Pennington of the Jets.

The Knicks are still playing in Madison Square Garden, but, just 11 years later, 8 of the 30 NBA teams will not still be playing in their 2000-01 arena in 2012-13: The Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets, the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic, the San Antonio Spurs, the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder and the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.

Basketball pioneers Hank Luisetti and George Mikan were still alive. Of the men who were named in 1997 to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, John Stockton, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal and (barely) Patrick Ewing were still active. Michael Jordan was just about to make his ill-advised 2nd comeback. With Shaq's retirement a few weeks ago, now all 50 are retired.

Shane Battier had just led Duke to the National Championship over an Arizona team that included Gilbert Arenas and Luke Walton. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony were still in high school. Stephen Curry and Brook Lopez were 13 years old, Kevin Durant was 12.

The defending World Champions were the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, the St. Louis Rams in the NFL, and local boys the Yankees in baseball and the Devils in the NHL. Hasim Rahman had knocked Lennox Lewis out a week earlier to become Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The Olympic Games have been held in America, Greece, Italy, China and Canada. The World Cup has been held in Japan, Korea, Germany and South Africa -- and had never previously been held in Asia and Africa, or in a joint venture (2002 in Japan and Korea).

The European Cup/Champions League soccer tournament has been won by Bayern Munich (who are in this year's final as well, against London's Chelsea), Real Madrid, AC Milan (twice), Porto, Liverpool, Barcelona (3 times), Manchester United and Internazionale Milano.

Current Knicks coach Mike D'Antonio was coaching Bennetton Treviso in the Italian league. Avery Johnson of the Nets was playing for the San Antonio Spurs. Tom Coughlin of the Giants was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. John Tortorella of the Rangers was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jacques Lemaire of the Devils was the head coach of the Minnesota Wild. Terry Collins of the Mets was managing in the Los Angeles Dodgers' minor-league system. Jack Capuano of the Islanders was the general manager of the Pee Dee Pride, a minor-league hockey team in Florence, South Carolina. Rex Ryan of the Jets was the defensive line coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Joe Girardi of the Yankees was catching for the Chicago Cubs.

George W. Bush had just been inaugurated as President. Bill Clinton had just left the office. George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and their wives, and Lady Bird Johnson were all still alive. (Reagan, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. and Mrs. Ford have since died.) Barack Obama was a State Senator, and Mitt Romney was a failed one-time U.S. Senate candidate who busy trying to keep the next year's Winter Olympics from falling apart.

The Governor of New York was George Pataki. The Mayor of New York City was Rudy Giuliani, and running to replace him were a dedicated Democratic public servant, Mark Green, and a playboy Republican billionaire, Michael Bloomberg. The Governor of New Jersey was Donald DiFrancesco, and running to replace him were former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, who was so conservative he made the new "president" look like George McGovern, and Woodbridge Mayor and former State Senator Jim McGreevey, who seemed very popular with the ladies, and he seemed to reciprocate their feelings. If we only knew...

Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer were on the U.S. Supreme Court then, and are still on it today. President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea was the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, was the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Prime Ministers of Canada was Jean Chretien, and of Britain Tony Blair. The monarch of Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. Manchester United was about to win the Premier League, Liverpool the FA Cup. There have since been 2 Presidents of the United States, 3 Prime Ministers of Britain and 2 Popes.

Major novels of 2001 included The Constant Gardener by John le Carre, Atonement by Ian McEwan, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Empire Falls by Ricahrd Russo and The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. J.K. Rowling published the 4th Hogwarts book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; and Eion Colfer published the 1st Artemis Fowl book. George R.R. Martin had published the 1st 3 A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) books. No one had yet heard of Bella Swan, Lisbeth Salander or Katniss Everdeen.

Major films of the spring of 2001 included Blow, about a 1970s cocaine trafficker; the film version of Bridget Jones' Diary, the live-action version of Josie and the Pussycats, the 1st Shrek film, the 1st Spy Kids film, A Knight's Tale (in which Heath Ledger plays someone decidedly less creepy than the Joker), the Ben Affleck telling of Pearl Harbor, and the Nicole Kidman-starring not-quite-remake of Moulin Rouge.

Those films were your choices in the spring of 2001? What's the Worst That Could Happen? Oh yeah, there was also a very bad buddy picture with that title. Why was it bad? Because the "buddies" were Danny DeVito and Martin Lawrence.

Pierce Brosnan was still playing James Bond, Tom Welling was about to debut as a teenage Clark Kent, not yet Superman, in Smallville, and the voice Kevin Conroy, in animated series, was enough to tide Batman fans over between the disaster of George Clooney and the restoration with Christian Bale. Paul McGann was still the last man to play The Doctor.

Television shows that were about to air their final first-run episodes were Nash Bridges, Diagnosis: Murder, Walker: Texas Ranger (starring the incredibly overrated Chuck Norris), 3rd Rock From the Sun, Star Trek: Voyager, Moesha, and, after 33 years, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Debuting were The Fairly OddParents, Braceface, Six Feet Under and Fear Factor. Not sure if there's a pattern there.

Nathan Fillion was best known as Joey Buchanan on One Life to Live. He had not yet appeared in Firefly, let alone Castle. Stana Katic had been in exactly one role, as Annie in the film Acid Freaks. Mark Harmon was best known as Dr. Jack McNeil on Chicago Hope; David McCallum as Agent Illya Kuryakin on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Michael Weatherly as Logan "Eyes Only" Cale on Dark Angel (with his then-girlfriend, Jessica Alba); Sasha Alexander as Gretchen Witter on Dawson's Creek; Sean Murray as Zane Grey Hart on Harts of the West; Lauren Holly as Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart on Picket Fences; Rocky Carroll as Joey Emerson on Roc. Pauley Perrette was still a blonde and mostly making commercials, but had recently begun to appear as Alice Cramer on Special Unit 2. Cote de Pablo had yet to appear on English-language television at all. Most Americans had never heard of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), much less expected to ever watch a TV show based on it.

Kourteney Kardashian had just turned 22, Kim Kardashian was 20, Khloe Kardashian was 17, Lady Gaga was 15, Rob Kardashian Jr. was 14, Rihanna and Kevin Jonas were 13, Joe Jonas and Daniel Radcliffe were 11, Emma Watson had just turned 11, Louis Tomlinson and Sarah Hyland were 9; Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus and Zayn Malik were 8; Justin Bieber, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Harry Styles were 7; Kendall Jenner was 5, Kylie Jenner and Ariel Winter were 3, and Rico Rodriguez and Nolan Gould were 2.

The Number 1 song in America was "All For You" by Janet Jackson. It succeeded "Angel," which Shaggy (not the Scooby-Doo character, this guy smoked even more marijuana) had ripped off the Merrilee Rush song "Angel of the Morning." It would be succeeded by the Moulin Rouge-inspired remake of Patti LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade," sung by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and Pink. Alicia Keys was about to release her debut album, Songs in A Minor. George Harrison of the Beatles was dying of cancer.

Inflation has been such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.30 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 34 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.50. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.44, a cup of coffee $2.02, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.67, a movie ticket $5.65, a new car $21,478, and a new house $211,000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on April 27, the preceding Friday, at 10,810.05.

The tallest building in the world was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The leading home video game system was the Sony PlayStation 2. We had the Internet, but no Facebook, no Skype, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Tumblr, no Instagram and no Pinterest. Wikipedia had just been founded. DVDs hadn't yet replaced VHS videotapes as the home entertainment of choice. And a "smart phone" would have been one that fit in your pocket. There were no iPads or iPhones.

In the Spring of 2001, the Russian space station Mir fell from orbit. A U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet collided, forcing the American plane to make an emergency landing and be detained for 10 days. The Netherlands became the 1st nation to legalize gay marriage. Temba Tsheri, age 16, became the youngest person to climb Mount Everest, which is half in China and half in Nepal. Just 1 week later, the Crown Prince of Nepal killed his father (the King), his mother (the Queen) and several other members of the royal family, before shooting himself. Although brain-dead, he was King for 3 days. His uncle became King Gyanendra, but has since been deposed and the monarchy abolished. Timothy McVeigh was executed. And the World Trade Center still stood.

Robert Ludlum, and Anthony Quinn, and Perry Como died. So did John Lee Hooker, and "Papa" John Phillips, and Joey Ramone.

While people born in the Spring of 2001 would now be 11, and are unlikely to be famous, at the time of the Knicks' last Playoff win, there was a now-famous child about to be born: Natasha, a.k.a. Sasha, Obama. Willow Smith was 6 months old, Frankie Jonas (one of the younger Jonas brothers) was 7 months old, Dylan Michael Douglas (son of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones) was 8 months old, Noah Cyrus (sister of Miley and daughter of Billy Ray) was 16 months old, and Malia Obama and Jaden Smith were 2 ½ years old.

UPDATE: We now know that David Mazouz, who went on to play the child Bruce Wayne on Gotham, was 2 months old at the time of the Knicks' 2001 Playoff win. And 2014 Little League heroine Mo'ne Davis was born 2 months later.

April 29, 2001. The New York Knickerbockers won a Playoff game. They have not done so since. Surely, they will again someday. After all, they have quite a bit of talent now. Of course, much of that talent is injured...

The Knicks. You never know what's going to happen next.

UPDATE: On May 6, 2012, the Knicks beat the Miami Heat, 89-87 at the Garden, to stave off elimination and end their 11-year drought of not having won a Playoff game. They would lose Game 5.

On May 3, 2013, they would beat the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Game 6, to win a Playoff series for the 1st time since May 21, 2000.