Will Leitch talks Knicks on TKB.tv

by Tommy Dee on January 19th, 2010 at 5:10 pm

So Will and I had a good chat about a lot of topics, including Spike Lee and the old days of the Knicks as we had the opportunity to screen the “Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. New York,” Dan Klores’ ESPN 30 for 30 that will air in March.

Here is a clip from Will’s film review from The Sports Section of NY Magazine.

“…The film, which is playing at the Sundance Film Festival and debuts on ESPN the night of Selection Sunday, takes a look at the NBA playoffs from 1993–95 and those epic matchups between the Pat Riley Knicks and the Larry Brown Pacers. We learn about Reggie Miller, how his rivalry with his sister fueled his trash-talking competitiveness, about the battle for historical-basketball supremacy between Indiana and New York, about Patrick Ewing’s tragic arc, about how Ahmad Rashad has a goatee now.

It’s a terrific film, but our takeaway was mostly: Man, we miss Spike Lee. The Spike Lee of the mid-nineties was at the top of his game, in his late thirties, fresh off Malcolm X, Crooklyn, and Clockers, a commercially viable, revolutionary filmmaker at the peak of his power and influence. This coincided with the best Knicks team since the seventies: Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Smith, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason (who, since 1995, has become shockingly fat). Spike Lee was more than just the Knicks’ courtside fan: He was the Knicks, and New York, a living, nattering manifestation of the city, screaming, hollering, making a spectacle out of himself in a way that was uniquely ours.

Check out Part 1 of my interview in the media player to the right, and once again thanks to Will for coming in. Lang Whitaker of SLAM will join me this week.

Will Leitch NY Magazine

Also, I had the chance to sit down with some aspiring young sports minds the other day, thanks to my friend Dan Isenberg, who works as a mentor. The name of the blog is “The Bagels Roar” and yes I ended up “toasted.”
  • x-man

    I hear Tommy but don’t forget about the 1991-1992 season when I, x-man had Scottie Pippen scared as hell! We took them to the 7th game int he playoffs. That team should have kept me and the Charles Smith saga would never have occurred in 1993.

  • HaS

    HA! It would hilarious if actual former players were really logging on this site and commenting in the threads.

  • J_Starks3

    These teams are the one’s that I miss. Gritty, hustling, defensive minded, tough and a me against the world attitude. Watching that clip a looked at the roster and Charles Smith was the only one that I felt didn’t belong and that was before his missed those lay-ups against the Bulls.

    This is probably why I have a hard time accepting or embracing Mike as our head coach. The one intangible that I miss and it doesn’t show on the stat sheet is when someone drove the lane and for whatever reason Patrick could not get there, Oakley (who didn’t have shot blocking ability) would make sure that the opposing player would feel his presence if you know what I mean. Put him on the floor and make him earn it from the line. I know that the game has changed and now everything is flagrant foul but all it takes is one good, hard foul to put the opponent in notice.

  • Mucha

    You’re Larry Hughes.

  • BiggieSmalls

    preach on brother.. preach on..

    maybe someone will listen and realize this is the WORD!!