The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs face off in the Big Apple on Saturday night, and a rehash of the drama surrounding veteran forward Marcus Morris isn't the only thing on the menu in the matchup; but rather, a reflection in the two paths both franchises have taken since their lockout-shorted 1999 season's NBA Finals bout, which ended in a five-game series victory for the Spurs.
San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich has demonstrated some level of distress over the 30-year-old Morris twin's last-second decision to nix a verbal agreement with the Spurs and sign a one-year, $15 million deal with the Knicks this past summer, but Popovich's standing in the league and his longevity with the Western Conference franchise is proof in the pudding of the Spurs' stability and sustained success the Knicks have been grasping at for two decades.
The Knicks' playoff run in 1999 was instigated by a fiery, defensive-minded coach in Jeff Van Gundy and saw role players step up their game while Patrick Ewing was hurt (guys like Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, and Latrell Sprewell reimagined their careers that year). New York was a somewhat model franchise at the time, with Ewing at the center of the team for fifteen years. The cracks were there, however, after the purchase of the franchise from Viacom to Cablevision (later the ownership entity would be known as The Madison Square Garden Company as it is today) granted day-to-day control of the Knicks to James Dolan.
Meanwhile, the Spurs entered the '99 Finals with second-year head coach Popovich (who became a coach from an front-office executive position with San Antonio)–not nearly as distinguished as a former Pat Riley assistant in Van Gundy or a Knicks organization that consistently reached the postseason in the decade.
The Spurs were the better team at the juncture, but since then the two teams have been completely opposite, from top to bottom. San Antonio leaned into the Tim Duncan and David Robinson frontcourt pairing and later extended a dynasty based on excellent scouting and finding players like Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. The Knicks, however, became a carousel of different head coaches, front office leadership, and general dysfunction. While Popovich has been head coach of the Spurs since 1996, the Knicks have seen double-digit coaches—some Hall of Famers like Larry Brown and Lenny Wilkens—come and go, with current head coach David Fizdale on the hot seat after one-plus seasons manning the sidelines.
Popovich and the Spurs have failed to miss a postseason berth since the tank season yielded them Duncan, and the Knicks have only made six playoff appearances in the twenty years since the two teams met at the NBA's biggest stage.
While the customary drama surrounding any ‘Bockers team ensues at the Garden on Saturday, it's worth taking a macro look at the two franchises—where they have come, where they have been, where are they going—and a complete role reversal has taken place in the span of two decades.
Follow Us
Subscribe