The New York Knicks were one of the more beastly teams during the 1990s and were so competitive that it spilled over with the infamous rough stuff. Here are the greatest Knickerbocker NBA team fights of the 90s.
Once upon a time, the New York Knicks were one of the top teams, especially during the era of the 1990s. They were sometimes the team to beat or sometimes—the team that always like to beat.
Back during the decade Michael Jordan owned, basketball was different and more physically competitive. The game was far more aggressive as teams often built up rivalries amongst each other. The Knicks were one of those teams that were aggressive and competitive led by Pat Riley who suddenly left his Showtime act in L.A.
The Knicks would find themselves throwing fists and bumping heads with the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and of course, those Chicago Bulls.
The word rivalry doesn’t exist in today’s NBA, but back then, it was the real deal. Players such as Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks and Larry Johnson would often duke it out with the aforementioned MJ, Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and Alonzo Mourning.
These teams would often meet in the playoffs so the tension would always rise up during the occasion in which fists were exchanged. The Knicks were always found in the middle of the brawls and believe it or not—they weren’t the pushovers.
On this special place of the internet, we’re going to countdown the top four New York Knickerbockers brawls during the 1990s:
1996: Charles Oakley vs. Charles Barkley
The first brawl that hits our list is between the two big men named Charles. Both Oakley and Barkley were really intimidating players on and off the court. No one messed with these guys unless they themselves did with each other.
That was the case in a preseason game in 1996. Now, this is a preseason game, so you could only imagine what these two felt for each other leading up to this game.
The brawl begins around 0:17 where Barkley goes up for the two points, but misses and attempts for the rebound. Barkley gets scuffled up with Oakley and they both hit the floor together. The moment they stand up, the haymakers are thrown.
Oakley gets a good swing in the beginning and Barkley connects right after, Oakley threw in the final punch before both players got separated. Besides Oakley and Barkley, this preseason matchup was full on flares as Ewing and Kevin Willis exchanged some words.
They too bumped heads later on and would ultimately get tossed out of the game. Again, this was a preseason game. Imagine if it during the playoffs.
1997: P.J. Brown vs. Charlie Ward
Moving to number three on our list is the infamous 1997 Game 5 brawl between the Knicks and the Miami Heat. This rivalry got intensified the moment head coach Pat Riley left the Knicks in 1995 after failing to repeat a trip to the NBA Finals (Hello Patrick Ewing finger-roll).
Riley’s move to the Heat seemed to be controversial according to the Knicks, so ever since Riley went down south, so did the interaction between both teams.
In Riley’s second season with the Heat in 1997, they overtook the Knicks and crowned themselves the Atlantic Division Champions. The two teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals in what it seemed like the Knicks had an overall better squad.
They took a commanding 3-1 lead over the Heat, but couldn’t shut the series down in Game 5 and went away with 96-81 loss. Despite the score, a brawl between Heat’s P.J. Brown and Knick’s point guard Charlie Ward was the center of attention.
At the beginning of the video, while under the basket, Ward got in front of Brown in which Brown grabbed Ward and body slammed him like a rag doll. This sparked a benches-clearing melee with Allan Houston, Ewing, Johnson and Starks all finding themselves involved.
Severe Knicks suspensions were handed down and the Knicks blew the series.
This was the first fight of many between the Heat and Knicks.
1998: Alonzo Mourning vs. Larry Johnson
We reach the second best Knicks brawl of the 1990’s and this one was a tough one. Some may say that the fight between Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson in the first round of the 1998 Eastern Conference playoffs takes the cake, but it only reaches second on this list.
Following a disappointing year for the Knicks, both teams met again and this time it was the first round. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks were down 2-1 in the series, but evened everything up with a 90-85 win. Once again, despite the score, the game was highlighted with another brawl and this one came in the closing seconds.
With just five seconds left, Mourning and Johnson found themselves in a tussle and before either of them landed a punch, the team benches were already cleared. Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy found himself caught up in the middle of it and was trying to grab onto Mourning’s legs to break up the fight—that was evidently unsuccessful.
Both players would end up suspended, but the Knicks ended up moving on from the series.
NEXT: The David Stern Special
1994: JoJo English vs. Derek Harper
As we reach the summit of our best Knicks brawls of the 1990s, the 1994 rumble between the Knicks and the Bulls is the winner. Another rivalry that was sparked due to multiple playoff meetings.
A lot of NBA fans forget to remember that because of Jordan, Ewing and the Knicks got their NBA Championship dreams crushed. In the early 90s while during the Bull’s first dynasty run, they took out the Knicks the first two years in the playoffs. The ’93 version featured perhaps the best team of the decade and a Knicks 2-0 series lead prior to losing in six games.
In the 1993-1994 season with the absence of Jordan, the Knicks finally enjoyed the upper-hand and took the series to distance with seven games and prevailed. They would eventually make the Finals that year against the Rockets, but you know the rest.
In the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals, JoJo English and Derek Harper started with each other at the half-court line. English took down Harper and the fight went all the way in the stands with several players on the floor throwing fists.
One of the reasons why this is the best brawl was due to the fact David Stern was in attendance sitting courtside directly in front of the action. The fight broke out with the commissioner in the building and that’s like fighting in the school cafeteria with the principal there.
Regardless, the Knicks ended up losing the game.
Fights like these bring up the debate: Has the NBA gotten softer?
The days with rivalries amongst players and teams are missed. The game today seems so Charmin soft nothing like this will ever take place again. Sure, something like the Malice in the Palace is never a good thing for the sport, but a little fist-throwing gets those rivalry juices flowing.
In any event, those 1990s New York Knicks will go down in NBA history as one of the tougher teams of all-time.