How Long It's Been: The Knicks Won an NBA Championship (UPDATE)

NOTE: This is an update of a piece I wrote on the 40th Anniversary, in 2013.

June 13, 2026: The New York Knickerbockers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 94-90 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and taking the NBA Championship.

This was a moment of great celebration for the New York Tri-State Area. It was the Knicks' 1st World Championship in 53 years:

May 10, 1973: The New York Knickerbockers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-93, at the Forum in Inglewood, California, winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and taking the NBA Championship.

For the Knicks, this capped their greatest period ever: 1970 to 1973, 4 seasons, 3 trips to the Finals (all against the Lakers), 2 titles.

Their only 2 titles -- until this past Saturday night.

Hail the champions:

* William "Red" Holzman, head coach
* Eddie Donovan, general manager
* 6 Tom Riker, center
* 7 Dean "the Dream" Meminger, guard
* 10 Walt "Clyde" Frazier, guard
* 12 Dick Barnett, guard
* 15 Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, guard
* 17 Henry Bibby, guard
* 18 Phil Jackson, forward
* 19 Willis Reed, center, Captain
* 22 Dave "Double D" DeBusschere, forward
* 23 Luther Rackley, center
* 24 Bill Bradley, forward
* 32 Jerry Lucas, forward
* 40 John Gianelli, center
* 43 Harthorne Wingo, forward

Frazier, Barnett, Reed, DeBusschere and Bradley also played for the Knicks on their 1969-70 title. Jackson was in the organization at that time, but missed the entire season due to injury.

Members of the 1970 Knicks who were not also 1973 Knicks were center Nate Bowman (Number 17), forwards Don May (5), Dave Stallworth (9), Bill Hosket (20) and Jazzy Cazzie Russell (33); and guards Mike Riordan (6) and John Warren (16).

Frazier, Barnett, Reed, DeBusschere and Bradley would have their uniform numbers retired by the Knicks. Holzman would be honored with a banner with the number 613 on it, for the number of games he won as Knicks coach. Frazier, Jackson, Reed, DeBusschere, Bradley, Lucas and Holzman would be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Frazier, Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas would be elected to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players -- though it should be noted that Lucas was elected for what he did with the Cincinnati Royals; he was a stabilizing veteran presence for the '73 Knicks. They were also selected for the 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players.

Bibby was the father of later NBA All-Star Mike Bibby. Bradley was elected to 3 terms in the U.S. Senate, representing New Jersey, and ran for President in 2000.

And, yes, kids, that Phil Jackson, the one who would coach the Chicago Bulls to 6 titles and the Lakers to 5. He was a decent player, not a great one. As was Pat Riley, who played for the Lakers against the Knicks in those Finals, and would later coach the Lakers to 4 titles, the Knicks into a Finals, and the Miami Heat to a title.

After one more year, Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas all retired, and the Knicks began to fall apart. Pearl, obtained from the Baltimore Bullets (forerunner of the Washington Wizards) after the Bullets beat the Knicks in the '71 Eastern Conference Finals, was the last to remain, in 1980.

The Knicks would have a mini-revival in the early 1980s with Bernard King, be stellar through most of the 1990s, reaching the Finals in 1994 and 1999, but be stymied, first by Larry Bird's Boston Celtics, then by Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons, then by Michael Jordan's Jackson-coached Bulls. Finally, the Knicks would collapse, because owner Charles Dolan and his son, team operator James Dolan, trusted Isiah to be general manager, and even coach.

Now, the Knicks are back, having won their 1st World Championship since 1973, 53 years. How long has it been?

*

The teams now named the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Miami Heat, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Orlando Magic, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Toronto Raptors, the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans did not yet exist. The teams now named the Brooklyn Nets, the Indiana Pacers, the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs did, in the American Basketball Association.

The Bullets were about to leave Baltimore for Washington, and were a long way from becoming the Wizards. There was an NFL team in Baltimore, but it was the Colts, not the Ravens. There was one in Houston, but it was the Oilers, not the Texans. 

The home of the Knicks and the NHL's Rangers was still being called "the New Madison Square Garden Center." It is now the only arena used by an NBA team then that are still used now -- although the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena), the Cobo Arena in Detroit (now the Huntington Bank Arena), the Milwaukee Arena (a.k.a. The MECCA, now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena), the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium, the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston (now the Fertitta Center), the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, The Forum in Inglewood outside Los Angeles, the Oakland Coliseum Arena and the Portland Memorial Coliseum still stand, and are still being used.

The Islanders had just completed their 1st season, and the building they shared with the New York Nets of the ABA, the Nassau Coliseum, was a year and a half old. The Yankees, recently purchased by George Steinbrenner, and the Giants were terrible, and were still playing in Yankee Stadium, but only for a few more months, as the renovation would start in October. The Mets and the Jets were playing at Shea Stadium, and while the Jets were falling apart as Joe Namath's knees did, the Mets would have a lousy 1st 5 months -- and then a torrid September that would lead to a Pennant and very nearly a 2nd World Championship in 5 years.

The Devils' franchise had been created, but at this point it only existed on paper, as the Kansas City Scouts, to begin play in the fall of 1974. And there was the World Hockey Association's New York Raiders, playing at The Garden, but they were a mess and moved to South Jersey, fooling no one into thinking they were a Philadelphia team.

The biggest thing that would happen in New York Tri-State Area sports in 1973 was the Belmont Stakes, as Secretariat moved "like a tremendous machine" in winning by 31 lengths to clinch the Triple Crown.

1973 was the last season for NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, like Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas, would hang on for one more year. Lew Alcindor had just recently changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Julius "Doctor J" Erving would soon move from the ABA's Virginia Squires to the Nets. Bill Walton was still at UCLA, winning the recent National Championship, the 7th straight for coach John Wooden, in the middle of an 88-game winning streak.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were in junior high school. Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley were in grade school. Shaquille O'Neal was a rather large baby. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and LeBron James weren't born yet.

The same day the Knicks won the title, the Montreal Canadiens won their 18th Stanley Cup, beating the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of the Finals. It was their 6th Cup in the last 9 seasons. The New England Whalers, then based in Boston, had just won the 1st WHA title, the AVCO Cup, beating ex-Blackhawk star Bobby Hull and his Winnipeg Jets. The Indiana Pacers were about to win their 3rd ABA title in the last 5 years, beating the Louisville-based Kentucky Colonels.

The defending World Champions in the other sports were the Oakland Athletics, with future Yankee legends Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter beating the Cincinnati Reds of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan; and the Miami Dolphins, who had won Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins to complete the only perfect NFL season in the playoff era (1932 to the present).

The Heavyweight Champion of the World was the undefeated George Foreman, who had just demolished Joe Frazier to take the title. Muhammad Ali had recently been dealt a loss and a broken jaw by Ken Norton, so it looked like Ali and Frazier were finished, and Foreman would be Champion for a while. Looks were deceiving.

The designated hitter had just debuted, Willie Mays' career was coming to a strange close, Hank Aaron had begun his approach to Babe Ruth's all-time record of 714 home runs, and Nolan Ryan had just pitched his 1st no-hitter and his 1st 19-strikeout game, on his way to a single-season record of 383 strikeouts.

Current Knicks coach Mike Brown was 3 years old. Giants coach John Harbaugh was 10. Rangers coach Mike Sullivan was 5. Islanders coach Peter DeBoer was about to turn 5. Jet coach Aaron Glenn was 10 months old. Yankee manager Aaron Boone was 2 months old. Nets coach Jordi Fernández, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and Devils coach Sheldon Keefe weren't born yet.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America 4 times, Canada 3 times, twice each in Russia, Korea, Japan, China, France and Italy; and once each in Austria, Bosnia, Spain, Norway, Australia, Greece, Britain and Brazil. The World Cup has since been held in America, Mexico and Germany twice; and once each in Canada, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Title IX had recently become law, and abortion had just been nationally legalized. The feminist and gay rights movements were underway.

The President of the United States was Richard Nixon, but the Senate was about to convene a special committee to investigate what was then being called "the Watergate matter." Nixon was now the only living President, as Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson had both died within the last 5 months. Their widows, and  those of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, were still alive.

Spiro Agnew as Vice President, but, in probably the most amazing thing about Watergate, Nixon's Vice President would have to resign his office, and it would have absolutely nothing to do with Watergate.

Gerald Ford was House Minority Leader. Jimmy Carter was Governor of Georgia. Ronald Reagan was Governor of California. George H.W. Bush was out of elective office, but had recently been appointed Chairman of the Republican National Committee, replacing a young Senator named Bob Dole. Bush's son had just been discharged from the Texas Air National Guard -- whether he had shown up for duty in the preceding year remains a mystery. Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham had just moved in together, renting a house in New Haven, Connecticut, where they were both students at Yale Law School.

Barack Obama was in junior high school in the city where he was born, Honolulu, Hawaii. Joe Biden was in his 1st year as a U.S. Senator. And Donald Trump and his father were about to be sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for racist renting practices. Melania Knauvss was 3 years old.

The Governor of New York was Nelson Rockefeller, although he would soon resign to run something called the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans. (It couldn't have been that critical, because until I first wrote this piece, in 2013, I'd never heard of it.) Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson would assume the job.

The Mayor of New York was John Lindsay, whose 2nd term was limping to a pathetic close. Abe Beame, who had been City Comptroller when Lindsay beat him for the Mayoralty in 1965, held the job again and was running again, and would defeat John Marchi, a State Senator from Staten Island whose upset victory in the 1969 Republican Primary forced Lindsay to run for re-election as an independent -- and win. But Beame's Mayoralty would be even more troubled than Lindsay's, and pave the way for that of Ed Koch.

Another weird race was across the Hudson River in New Jersey. Governor William T. Cahill had proposed the State's 1st income tax. Not signed into law, merely proposed it. Charlie Sandman, a very conservative loudmouth who represented the southernmost portion of the State in Congress, ran against Cahill in the Republican Primary, and won. But he got slaughtered in the general election by Essex County Prosecutor Brendan Byrne, when it was revealed that a local mob boss was caught on tape saying Byrne was the one politician in the area who couldn't be bought. Byrne won 66 percent of the vote.

Then, the next year, he got the State income tax passed, and dropped to an approval rating of 17 percent. People began calling him "One-Term Byrne." Unlike Jim Florio nearly 20 years later, he shook off the stupid tax protests, and got re-elected in 1977 with 56 percent of the vote.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Pierre Trudeau. The monarch of Great Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that has now changed -- and the Prime Minister was Edward Heath, who, like Senator Edward Kennedy and the Queen's great-grandfather, King Edward VII, was nicknamed "Ted."

No Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1972, so its holder was still the 1971 recipient, Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany. The Pope was Paul VI. Pope Leo XIV, then Robert Francis Prevost, was 17 years old, and was about to graduate from St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, Michigan. It closed in 1977. There have since been 10 Presidents of the United States (11 if you count Trump twice -- I wouldn't even count him once), 13 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 6 Popes.

England's Football League was won by Liverpool in a close race over London's Arsenal. The FA Cup was won by second-division North-East club Sunderland in a shock over Yorkshire's mighty Leeds United. The European Cup, for the 3rd season in a row, was won by Johan Cruyff's powerful but beautiful Amsterdam club Ajax. Soon, Cruyff would move on to Spain's FC Barcelona, and build that club's system, and thus build significantly on the legend it already had.

The New York Cosmos -- not yet with Pele and Franz Beckenbauer -- were playing at Hofstra University's football stadium, now named James M. Shuart Stadium, across from the Jets' training complex and the Nassau Coliseum, and were dethroned as North American Soccer League Champions by the Philadelphia Atoms. Hardly anybody in North America cared.

Major novels of 1973 included Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Demon Seed by Dean Koontz (which would be made into a 1977 film in which Julie Christie plays a woman who gets impregnated by a computer), Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, and Postern of Fate, the last novel written by Agatha Christie.

Robert Ludlum published The Matlock Caper, but it wasn't about a lawyer in Atlanta who looked like Andy Griffith -- or one in New York who looks like Kathy Bates. In non-fiction, Hunter S. Thompson published Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Peter Maas Serpico (the film verison with Al Pacino as the real-life New York cop would premiere in December), and Flora Rheta Schreiber Sybil.

J.R.R. Tolkien would live another 4 months. George R.R. Martin was teaching at Clarke University in Iowa. Stephen King was teaching at a high school in Maine, and his 1st novel, Carrie, had been accepted for publication the next year. J.K. Rowling was 7 years old.

No one had yet heard of George Smiley, the Punisher, Lestat de Lioncourt, Rocky Balboa, T.S. Garp, Arthur Dent, Jason Bourne, Hannibal Lecter, Celie Harris, Kinsey Millhone, Jack Ryan, Forrest Gump, John McClane, Alex Cross, Bridget Jones, Robert Langdon, Bella Swan, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Lisbeth Salander, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, John Wick or Maggie Bell.

Major movies released in the spring of 1973 included the film version of Godspell, an updated version of Raymond Chandler's story The Long Goodbye with Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe and ex-Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton as the killer, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid with James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the title roles and Bob Dylan with a cameo, the Anthony Hopkins & Claire Bloom version of Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, the blaxploitation/feminist films Cleopatra Jones and Coffy, and, released the day before the Knicks won the title, Paper Moon, with real-life father and daugther Ryan and Tatum O'Neal as Depression-era con artists. (Ryan died in 2023. I wonder if he ever paid Tatum the $200.)

Gene Roddenberry had just seen his project Genesis II flop on CBS. George Lucas was about to release American Graffiti. Steven Spielberg was working on his 1st feature film, The Sugarland Express. The cartoon Super Friends was about to premiere, meaning that George Reeves would be succeeded as Superman (sort of) by Danny Dark, and Adam West as Batman by Olan Soule. Shannon Farnon became the voice of Wonder Woman. Roger Moore was about to debut as James Bond in Live and Let Die. Jon Pertwee was playing The Doctor.

Bonanza finally went off the air, while Gunsmoke hung on a little longer. Johnny Carson had recently moved The Tonight Show from New York to Los Angeles. M*A*S*H wrapped up its 1st season, All in the Family its 3rd. CBS had recently revived The Price Is Right, and was about to revive Match Game, which had aired on NBC from 1962 to 1969. Paul McCartney's 1st solo TV special had recently aired on ABC, to coincide with his Wings album Red Rose Speedway.

Paul's fellow ex-Beatle George Harrison released Living in the Material World. Bob Dylan was about to release "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Elvis Presley had released the soundtrack to his recent TV special Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. Frank Sinatra was about to start recording his comeback album, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. The Jackson 5 had released Skywriter.

Led Zeppelin were on tour in the U.S., including the Garden concert that would be filmed for The Song Remains the Same. David Bowie released Aladdin Sane, Bob Marley Catch a Fire, the Eagles Desperado, Paul Simon There Goes Rhymin' Simon, the Carpenters Now & Then, Earth Wind & Fire Head to the Sky, Chicago Chicago VI, Aretha Franklin Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), Carole King Fantasy, and John Denver Farewell Andromeda. The Number 1 song in America was "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando & Dawn.

Robert Kardashian had just co-founded Radio & Records magazine, stepping aside from his legal practice. Bruce Jenner was training to better his 1972 Olympic performance in the decathlon -- 10th place. Kris Houghton was in high school. None of them had ever heard of each other.

Inflation was about to have its 1st big increase of the post-World War II era: What $1.00 bought then, $7.63 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 8 cents, and a Subway ride in New York 35 cents. The average price of a gallon of gas was 37 cents (but was about to soar thanks to the OPEC price hike), a cup of coffee 51 cents, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $1.47, a movie ticket $1.72, a new car $2,900, and a new house $35,100. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 939.34.

The portable telephone had just been introduced by Motorola. Cordless home phones and the desktop computer were still a ways off. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Tim Berners-Lee were turning 18. Social media was the stuff of science fiction.

Skylab was launched, and became the biggest lemon in the history of space travel -- so far. Automatic teller machines were still a relatively new thing, and many people had never seen one. The very first home video game system, the Magnavox Odyssey, had been introduced the preceding September. There were heart transplants, liver transplants and lung transplants, and artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra.

In the Spring of 1973, the World Trade Center opened in New York, becoming the tallest building(s) in the world -- only to be topped just a month later by the Sears Tower in New York. The American Indian Movement ended their 10-week standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. LexisNexis and Federal Express (FedEx) began operations. A military coup ended democracy in Greece. Mark Felt retired from the FBI -- and, at this point, only he, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, and Post editor Ben Bradlee knew he was Woodward's Watergate source, nicknamed "Deep Throat."

Noel Coward, and Pablo Picasso, and Jeannette Rankin died. She was the 1st woman elected to Congress, the Montana Representative who voted against America's entry into World War I, and then became the only member of either house of Congress to vote against America's entry into World War II. She lost her seat because of both votes, but was only able to come back the first time. Also dying in the Spring of 1973 were Robert Armstrong and Merian C. Cooper, the male lead and the director of King Kong.

Sasha Alexander, and Heidi Klum, and Neil Patrick Harris were born. So were sports stars Derek Lowe, Tedy Bruschi, Roberto Carlos and Haile Gebreselassie.

May 10, 1973. The New York Knicks were World Champions. It took them 53 years, 1 month and 3 days to do it again.

And now, they have overcome.

Arenas Hosting the NBA Finals

Congratulations to the Denver Nuggets, winners of their 1st NBA Championships. Last night, they beat the Miami Heat, 94-89, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, at home at the aptly-named Ball Arena. (But not originally-named: From its opening in 1999 until 2020, it was named the Pepsi Center.)

Arenas Hosting the NBA Finals

For all arenas currently in use, or formerly in use but still standing, their current names are used here. For all arenas that have since been demolished, the names they used at the time are used here. Ties are broken by most recent.

Boston Garden, 19: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987.

The Forum, Inglewood (Los Angeles), 14: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991.

Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, 8: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2020.

Kaseya Center, Miami, 7: 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2023.

Oakland Arena, 7: 1975, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022.

Chicago Stadium, 7: 1947, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998.

Minneapolis Auditorium, 6: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1959.

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, 5: 2007, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.

Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, 5: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2014.

The Palace, Auburn Hills (Detroit), 5: 1988, 1989, 1990, 2004, 2005.

Madison Square Garden IV, 5: 1970, 1972, 1973, 1994, 1999.

The Summit, Houston, 4: 1981, 1986, 1994, 1995.

Spectrum, Philadelphia, 4: 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983.

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, 4: 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966.

Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, 4: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961.

TD Garden, Boston, 3: 2008, 2009, 2022.
Portland Memorial Coliseum, 3: 1977, 1990, 1992.

Capital Centre, Landover (Washington), 3: 1975, 1978, 1979.

Madison Square Garden III, 3: 1951, 1952, 1953.

Footprint Center (Phoenix), 2: 1993, 2021.

American Airlines Center, Dallas, 2: 2006, 2011.

Orlando Arena, 2: 1995, 2009.

Meadowlands Arena, 2: 2002, 2003.

Delta Center, Salt Lake City, 2: 1997, 1998.

Seattle Center Coliseum, 2: 1978, 1979.

Milwaukee Arena (MECCA), 2: 1971, 1974.

Cow Palace, Daly City (San Francisco), 2: 1964, 1967.

Philadelphia Civic Center, 2: 1956, 1967.

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, 2: 1955, 1956.

Upstate Medical University Arena, Syracuse, 2: 1954, 1955.

Philadelphia Arena, 2: 1947, 1948.

Ball Arena, Denver, 1: 2023.

Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, 1: 2021.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, 1: 2019.

Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, 1: 2012.

Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, 1: 2001.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, 1: 2000.

Alamodome, San Antonio, 1: 1999.

Key Arena, Seattle, 1: 1996.

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1: 1976.

CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, 1: 1971.

Edgerton Park Arena, Rochester, 1: 1951.

Toyota Coliseum, Syracuse, 1: 1950.

Washington Coliseum, 1: 1949.

Baltimore Coliseum, 1: 1948.

May 31, 1983: Moses Malone Gets Julius Erving a Ring

Moses Malone (left) and Julius Erving. Big Mo and Dr. J.

May 31, 1983, 40 years ago: The Philadelphia 76ers, and Julius Erving, finally win an NBA Championship, on the massive shoulders of the man who, for most of the early 1980s, was the best basketball player in the world.

Not Erving. Not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, whom the Sixers beat in these Finals. Not Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, whom the Sixers beat to get into the Finals.

His name was Moses Malone.

It was a story of 2 men, who couldn't have been more different in style, but who combined to get a precious result for one of basketball's greatest cities.

Both players started out in the American Basketball Association. Erving began with the Virginia Squires in 1971, and went to the New York Nets in 1973. Known as "Doctor J," his stunning moves led the Long Island team to the ABA Championship in 1974 and 1976. But when the Nets were invited into the NBA for the 1976-77 season, the territorial indemnification fee they had to pay to the New York Knicks forced them to dump Erving's salary. They traded him to the 76ers.

The 76ers, previously the Syracuse Nationals until 1963, and NBA Champions in 1967, reached the NBA Finals in 1977, but lost it to the Portland Trail Blazers. For 1978, the team adopted the slogan of "We owe you one," but they lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Washington Bullets.

By 1980, Erving had cut back some on the superhuman moves (but not entirely: There was a basket in the NBA Finals that got the tag "The Move"), and became a better defensive player in the process. But the 76ers again lost the Finals, this time to the Lakers. They blew a 3-games-to-1 lead in the Conference Finals in 1981, to the Celtics. They beat the Celtics to get into the NBA Finals in 1982, but, again, lost to the Lakers.

Dr. J had 2 "red, white and blue rings," but, still no "real ring." And even fans in New England, Celtic fans who'd hated Philadelphia basketball teams going back to Warriors, who debuted in 1946 and moved to San Francisco in 1962, began to feel bad for him.

Enter Moses Malone. In 1974, he became the 1st player to jump from high school directly to the pros, signing with the ABA's Utah Stars. In 1976, after brief stopovers with the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis and the NBA's Buffalo Braves, he was traded to the Houston Rockets, and was named NBA Most Valuable Player in 1979 and 1982. He got the Rockets to their 1st NBA Finals berth in 1981, where they lost to the Celtics.

After the 1981-82 season, he was a free agent. The Sixers knew that enough was enough: They had to go for it, and opened the vault for Malone. Head coach Billy Cunningham and assistant coach Matt Guokas, both rookie forwards on the 76ers' 1967 title team, now had Malone at center, Erving and Bobby Jones as forwards, and Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney as guards. There was good scoring, and truly rugged defense. Toney was so good against the Celtics, he became known as the Boston Strangler.

The Sixers went 65-17, by 7 games over the Lakers the best record in the NBA. Malone, a native of the Norfolk, Virginia area, was asked how he thought the Playoffs would go. He said, "Fo', fo', fo'." In other words, he thought the Sixers would sweep all three series in four straight games. It had never been done.

In the Conference Semifinals, the Sixers did, indeed, sweep the New York Knicks in 4 straight. Malone led the team in scoring in all 4 games: 38 points, 30, 28 and 29. Knicks coach Hubie Brown, making a point about talent, if not one about proper pronunciation, said, "Moses Malone is a real man. They cannot pay him a-nough."

The Sixers won the 1st 3 games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, although none of those 3 was easy. They were 7-0 in the Playoffs. The Bucks won Game 4, 100-94, ending the sweep dream. But the Sixers closed it out in Game 5, 115-103.

The Sixers went into the NBA Finals like a steamroller. The Lakers did not: Rookie sensation James Worthy broke his leg late in the regular season, and missed the entire Playoffs. Bob McAdoo -- like Worthy, Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson, on his way to the Basketball Hall of Fame -- was also hurt, though he was playing through it.

Indeed, in a 1996 ESPN discussion as to what was the greatest team in NBA history, the '83 76ers got nominated, and Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe, who chose the '86 Celtics, said of the '83 76ers, "There's a team out there that could have beaten them," citing the injuries to Worthy and McAdoo.

How much difference could those 2 have made? Perhaps enough to deny those Sixers entry into the "greatest team ever" conversation, but not enough to deny them the title. The Sixers won Game 1 at The Spectrum, 113-107, with Malone scoring 27. They won Game 2, 103-93, with Malone scoring 24. With all the focus on Malone, Erving could relax a little, and played some of the best basketball of his career.

The series moved out to Inglewood, California. Basketball pundits like to say that a series is never over until a home team loses at least once. But the Sixers mopped up the Forum floor with the Lakers in Game 3, 111-94. Malone had 28 points and 19 rebounds. A sweep was now a fait accompli, and Malone accomplished it with 24 points and 23 rebounds in Game 4. He had controlled the entire postseason, which ended with a 115-108 76ers victory. The joke was easy: Moses had led them to the Promised Land.

Moses Malone had carved his name into the marble of NBA history, winning the MVP of both the regular season and the Finals. And Julius Erving finally had an NBA Championship. Pretty much anybody who wasn't a hardcore Laker fan was happy.

The 76ers remained a strong team for 3 more years. But on June 15, 1986, team owner Harold Katz traded Malone, and they traded the top pick the Draft. They've never been the same since, making only 1 NBA Finals, in 2001 with Allen Iverson. Otherwise, with Charles Barkley, Iverson, and Joel Embiid, and under 3 different ownership regimes, the Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the most underachieving teams in North American sports.

From the NBA Finals of 1984 to that of 2022, the count of NBA Championships is as follows: Los Angeles Lakers 9, Chicago Bulls 6, San Antonio Spurs 5, Golden State Warriors 4, Detroit Pistons 3, Boston Celtics 3, Miami Heat 3, Houston Rockets 2, Dallas Mavericks 1, Cleveland Cavaliers 1, Toronto Raptors 1, Milwaukee Bucks 1. The other 18 teams, including the Philadelphia 76ers, none. And of those 18 teams, 5 didn't even exist in 1983.

"Trust the process"? The 76ers acquired James Harden in 2022, but Harden is no Moses Malone. And Embiid is no Julius Erving.

May 10, 1973: The Knicks' Last Title & Wilt Chamberlain's Last Game

May 10, 1973, 50 years ago: The New York Knickerbockers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-93, at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and taking the NBA Championship.

In this clincher, the Knicks used only 8 players: Earl Monroe scored 23 points, Bill Bradley 20, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed 18 each, Jerry Lucas 10, Phil Jackson 6, Dean Meminger 5, and Dave DeBusschere (a more defense-oriented player) 2.

For the Lakers: Gail Goodrich scored 28, Wilt Chamberlain 23 (and had 21 rebounds), Jim McMillan 19, Jerry West 12, Bill Bridges 9, Keith Erickson 2, and Happy Hairston, Mel Counts and Pat Riley didn't score any.

For the Knicks, this capped their greatest period ever: 1970 to 1973, 4 seasons, 3 trips to the Finals (all against the Lakers), 2 titles. Their only 2 titles.

Hail the champions: William "Red" Holzman, head coach; Eddie Donovan, general manager; 6, Tom Riker, center; 7, Dean "the Dream" Meminger, guard; 10, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, guard; 12, Dick Barnett, guard; 15 Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, guard; 17, Henry Bibby, guard; 18, Phil Jackson, forward; 19, Willis Reed, center, team Captain; 22, Dave "Double D" DeBusschere, forward; 23, Luther Rackley, center; 24, Bill Bradley, forward; 32, Jerry Lucas, forward; 40, John Gianelli, center; and 43, Harthorne Wingo, forward.

Frazier, Barnett, Reed, DeBusschere and Bradley also played for the Knicks on their 1969-70 title. Jackson was in the organization at that time, but missed the entire season due to injury.

Members of the 1970 Knicks who were not also 1973 Knicks were center Nate Bowman (Number 17), forwards Don May (5), Dave Stallworth (9), Bill Hosket (20) and Jazzy Cazzie Russell (33); and guards Mike Riordan (6) and John Warren (16).

Frazier, Barnett, Reed, DeBusschere and Bradley would have their uniform numbers retired by the Knicks. Holzman would be honored with a banner with the number 613 on it, for the number of games he won as Knicks coach. Frazier, Jackson, Reed, DeBusschere, Bradley, Lucas and Holzman would be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Frazier, Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas would be elected to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players and its 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players -- though it should be noted that Lucas was elected for what he did with the Cincinnati Royals; he was a stabilizing veteran presence for the '73 Knicks.

Bibby was the father of later NBA All-Star Mike Bibby. Bradley was elected to 3 terms in the U.S. Senate, representing New Jersey, and ran for President in 2000.

And, yes, kids, that Phil Jackson, the one who would coach the Chicago Bulls to 6 titles and the Lakers to 5. He was a decent player, not a great one. As was Pat Riley, who played for the Lakers against the Knicks in those Finals, and would later coach the Lakers to 4 titles, the Knicks into a Finals, and the Miami Heat to a title.

After one more year, Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas all retired, and the Knicks began to fall apart. Pearl, obtained from the Baltimore Bullets (forerunner of the Washington Wizards) after the Bullets beat the Knicks in the '71 Eastern Conference Finals, was the last to remain, in 1980.

The clinching Game 5 was the last game for NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. He signed on to be player-coach of the American Basketball Association's San Diego Conquistadors, but an injunction in a legal court kept him off the basketball court, enforcing the last year of his contract with the Lakers.

He sat out the 1973-74 season as a player, got the Conquistadors into the 1st Round of the ABA Playoffs, and then decided he was done with pro basketball. The greatest player in the sport's history -- yes, he was better than Michael Jordan, and he would have eaten LeBron James -- never drew another paycheck from a pro basketball team, in any capacity.

He would, however, have his uniform Number 13 retired by every team he played for: The University of Kansas (1956-58), the Harlem Globetrotters (1958-59), the Golden State Warriors (1959-65, including 1959-62 in Philadelphia), the Philadelphia 76ers (1965-68), and the Lakers (1968-73). And a statue of the West Philadelphia native stands outside the 76ers' Wells Fargo Center.

Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, like Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas, would hang on for one more year. Lew Alcindor had just recently changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Julius "Doctor J" Erving would soon move from the ABA's Virginia Squires to the Nets. Bill Walton was still at UCLA, winning the recent National Championship, the 7th straight for coach John Wooden, in the middle of an 88-game winning streak.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were in junior high school. Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley were in grade school. Shaquille O'Neal was a rather large baby. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and LeBron James weren't born yet.

The Knicks went into decline, and, despite a brief revival in 1984, a stretch of contention in the 1990s that included Finals berths in 1994 and 1999, have become the most underachieving team in the NBA. In 2023, they are a Playoff team again, but don't yet look like title contenders.

Red Holzman died in 1998, Eddie Donovan in 2001, Dave DeBusschere in 2003, Dean Meminger in 2013, Luther Rackley in 2017, Harthorne Wingo in 2021, and Willis Reed just 50 days ago. The remaining '73 Knicks are still alive.

January 7, 1972: The NBA's Longest Winning Streak

January 7, 1972, 50 years ago: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 134-90 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta. It is their 33rd straight victory, a record for North American major league sports.

To put this in perspective, here are the longest streaks in the other sports:

* Major League Baseball: 22, by the Cleveland Indians, from August 24 to September 15, 2017. From September 7 to 30, 1916, the New York Giants had 26 wins and a tie, but no losses.

* National Football League, regular season only: 23, by the Indianapolis Colts, from November 2, 2008 to December 17, 2009. However, they lost a Playoff game on January 3, 2009.

* NFL, counting the postseason: 21, by the New England Patriots, from October 5, 2003 to October 24, 2004. This includes winning Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004.

* NHL: 17, by the Pittsburgh Penguins, from March 9 to April 10, 1993. That streak ended with a tie 2 days later, 6-6 against the New Jersey Devils, in the regular season finale. The Pens then faced the Devils in the 1st round of the Playoffs, and stretched the streak to 20-0-1 before the Devils beat them on April 25 at the Meadowlands. The Pens then finished the Devils off, but their bid for a 3rd straight Stanley Cup ended in the next round, against the New York Islanders.

From October 14, 1979 to January 6, 1980, the Philadelphia Flyers had a 35-game unbeaten streak: 25-0-10.

The Lakers began their streak on November 5, 1971. Their 1st big star, Elgin Baylor, retired before the previous game, a home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Halloween. With Baylor, the Lakers had reached 8 NBA Finals -- and lost them all.

They were better without him. Jim McMillian took his place at small forward, along with Harold "Happy" Hairston at power forward, Jerry West at point guard, Gail Goodrich as shooting guard, and the one and only Wilt Chamberlain at center. The team also included future coach Pat Riley and Keith Erickson.

So, on November 5, at home at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, they beat the Baltimore Bullets, 110-106. They rest of the 1st 10: Golden State in Oakland, New York at home, Chicago away, Philadelphia away, Seattle at home, Portland away, Boston at home, Cleveland at home, Houston at home.

The next 10: Milwaukee at home, Seattle away, Detroit at home, Seattle at home, Boston away, Philadelphia away, Portland at home, Houston away, Golden State at Oakland, and Phoenix at home, 126-117 in overtime. That was the closest anybody came during the streak to stopping it.

The last 13: Atlanta at home, Portland away, Golden State at home, Phoenix away, Philadelphia at home, Buffalo away, Baltimore away, Houston at home, Buffalo at home, Seattle away, Boston at home, Cleveland away and Atlanta away.

Finally, on January 9, a nationally-televised game at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena -- "The MECCA" -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Lakers, 120-104.

The Lakers went 69-13 that season, setting a new NBA single-season record for wins, with a winning percentage of .841. That record would stand for 24 years. Even without the 33-game winning streak, a record that has not seriously been approached in any sport, they were 36-13, for a percentage of .735. In other words, take the streak out, and they were still on a 60-22 pace.

The Lakers went on to beat the Knicks in the Finals, to finally win their 1st NBA Championship in Los Angeles. They had previously won 5 titles in Minneapolis before moving to L.A. in 1960.

How Long It's Been: The Knicks Won an NBA Championship

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David Courtney, 1958-2012

David Courtney has died. Born in New York but grew up in Los Angeles, moving there when his father got a job with MGM Television, he got his first job in sports in 1971, when he became a 14-year-old public relations assistant for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. Soon, he was the public-address announcer for football and basketball games at Beverly Hills High School, and became the backup PA announcer at the Forum, to Lakers and Kings announcer John Ramsay.

In 1978, the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association hired im as their PR Director. But the team folded, and he got a job in radio in Houston, eventually manning the PA microphone for the Astros, the Rockets, and the USFL's Houston Gamblers.

He returned to Los Angeles as the Kings's PA man in 1988, and began doing the Angels' games in 1993 and the Clippers' games in 2008. He also subbed for the regular announcers of the Dodgers and, while they were in L.A., the Raiders.

Like Joe Nolan of WABC-Channel 7 here in New York, who is also the PA announcer for Rutgers football, Courtney doubled as a traffic reporter, for three L.A. radio stations, most notably KABC, AM 790.

Courtney was the voice of the Los Angeles Kings starting in 1988, the Angels (under whatever name) since 1993, and the Los Angeles Clippers starting in 2008. Previously, he had been the PA announcer for another NBA team, the Houston Rockets.

Among the athletes he introduced as P.A. announcer were:

Astros: Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, Joe Niekro, J.R. Richard, Cesar Cedeno, Jose Cruz and Mike Scott.

Rockets: Moses Malone, Rudy Tomjanovich and Calvin Murphy.

Dodgers: Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser.

Raiders: Marcus Allen, Tim Brown and Howie Long.

Angels: Brian Downing, Wally Joyner, Chili Davis, Jim Abbott, Mark Langston, Jim Edmonds, Tim Salmon, J.T. Snow, Darin Erstad, Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Troy Percival, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Torii Hunter, Jered Weaver, Zack Greinke, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout.

Kings: Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Luc Robitaille, Tony Granato, Rob Blake, Darryl Sydor, Adam Deadmarsh, Ziggy Plaffy, Felix Potvin, Simon Gagne, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Jarret Stoll and Jonathan Quick.

Clippers: Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

He introduced World Championship teams with the Kings this year and the Angels in 2002.

Here's a clip of him introducing the Clippers at the Staples Center.

The cause of death has yet to be announced, but in his last tweet, yesterday afternoon, he said, "I'm in the hospital waiting for an angiogram." So, most likely, it was heart trouble.

He was 54 years old.