How Knicks Resemble Last Finals Team

New York Knicks legend Larry Johnson believes that his successors are capable of partying like it's 1999.

Speaking at the Knicks' Playoff Palooza pep rally and meet-and-great in Battery Park, Johnson spoke to Knicks on SI on how the current crop of Manhattanites resembles the 1999 squad, which currently stands as the last New York team to reach the NBA Finals. Such similarities may defy the common criticisms against the modern Knicks, who have faced accusations of lacking passion and connectivity.

"As far as resemblance, I see the heart. This team got a lot of heart," Johnson noted of the team currently facing the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal round. "Speaking of heart, Josh Hart is one of the most hardest working men in the game. Then, they love each other. When I say love each other, they don't mind playing with each other. You don't see no animosity. You don't see no selfishness."

Though they were the first victim of the San Antonio Spurs' long-running championship dynasty, the 1999 Knicks remain beloved in metropolitan circles for their improbable run to the final round as an eighth-seed. They were the first (and, until the 2023 Miami Heat, only) No. 8 to reach the Finals and produced several classic moments, such as Johnson's famed four-point play that flipped momentum in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

Johnson's words perhaps proved prophetic in unexpected ways: a team effort from the Knicks, partly led by reserve Cameron Payne, paced a 123-112 comeback victory that gave them a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven duel with Detroit. After the win, Hart praised the way everyone on the Knicks stood up in the pre-Easter resurrection, including Mikal Bridges, who played less than two minutes in the final frame while Payne worked his magic.

That perhaps best retroactively defined Johnson's point about the Knicks matching the unity of the 1999 team, despite several major commentators questioning the current New Yorkers' chemistry after dealing away franchise faces like Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle.

"We were the same way, of course," Johnson said before the first game. "Patrick Ewing was our franchise. Other than that. Patrick had no problem with letting anybody shine and anybody do their business. So I think that's that's the that's the resemblance I see, is how these guys play together, how well they play together, the chemistry. They love playing together. They love playing here in New York. And if they keep that same mentality, that same attitude, they can go far."