Some celebrities sit courtside at Madison Square Garden, and then there are those who are celebrated when they sit courtside. In an arena that never misses a chance to acknowledge the famous, basketball people will confirm there is a clear difference between the two on any given game night, and especially now.
The loudest cheers at the Garden are not for Ben Stiller or Tracy Morgan or whichever A-list actor or singer gets comped a seat. The roar belongs to Patrick Ewing. And Larry Johnson. And John Starks, Latrell Sprewell, and Bernard King.
As it should be. These and other former Knicks built their legacies in this building and deposited real equity into the franchise’s history. None of them won a championship, which makes their regular presence at these playoff games both pointed and appropriate. They settle into a dedicated row just behind one of the baskets, an unscheduled reunion every time they arrive. Once applauded during their playing days, they are now the ones clapping, willing the current roster to, in the words of Ewing, “do whatever it takes.”
Are they living vicariously through Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Josh Hart? In a sense, yes. There is a permanent void these alumni cannot fill — that championship they wanted so badly for the city. With the Knicks now in the NBA Finals, that void could close within weeks.
“Us being here every night and seeing the things that are going on here makes us feel like we are part of it, part of the team,” Ewing said, “even though we’re old and beat up and our knees hurt and backs hurt.”
‘Once a Knick, Always a Knick’
When Brunson took over the fourth quarter of a Game 1 overtime win, Ewing, Johnson, and Marcus Camby were out of their chairs after big shots, reacting with the same urgency as fans seated 50 rows up. After one Brunson layup, Stephon Marbury leaped up and briefly stepped onto the court by accident. Security left him alone — he was an ex-Knick. Marbury later posted an apology on social media:
“I got swept up in the current like a plastic bag,” Marbury said. “My energy flew out of the roof, I lost my mind and my feet carried me somewhere they didn’t belong. Now, how about we run that back? Just kidding. Unless Jalen hits another one. Then all bets are off.”
This city demands winners, but the ex-Knicks remain beloved because they came close, twice. Many fans at the Garden grew up on those Ewing teams and lived and died with them. The attachment holds.
The last Knicks championship was in 1973. Few passionate fans in 2026 can recall Willis Reed limping from the tunnel in 1970 against the Los Angeles Lakers, or Walt Frazier in both Finals runs. What remains vivid are the two trips to the NBA Finals in 1993-94 and 1998-99 — a mix of joy and frustration that never fully fades.
Those ’90s teams beat everyone except Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Tim Duncan when it counted.
“It’s hard to win a championship,” said Johnson.
Jordan blocked the Knicks‘ path to the Finals repeatedly, and when he detoured to baseball and then briefly retired, New York had two openings. On June 5, 1994, the Knicks beat Indiana in Game 7 to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 21 years. Ewing and Olajuwon engaged in a tough seven-game series, but Starks shot 2-for-18 in Game 7, and in Game 6 his championship-winning attempt was blocked by Olajuwon. The 1994 title went to the Houston Rockets.
The lockout-shortened 1998-99 season brought another near-miss. The Knicks, seeded eighth in the East, caught fire in the playoffs and were aided by Allan Houston‘s last-second shot to eliminate the top-seeded Miami Heat in the first round. Ewing tore his Achilles tendon in the Eastern Conference Finals and missed the NBA Finals entirely. Duncan launched a San Antonio Spurs dynasty that denied New York, and the Knicks have come up empty since.
The current playoff gatherings among the ex-Knicks were not pre-planned. Ewing works for the team as an ambassador, so he is at every game. Starks is a regular during the season, calling himself “a transplanted New Yorker.” Others started showing up for the playoffs. Now they share a dedicated row at the Garden and earn TV airtime each night.
Marbury, a Coney Island native who spent five seasons with the Knicks during a difficult stretch, has joined the group. All is forgiven.
Johnson famously converted a four-point play — a 3-pointer plus a free throw — late in Game 3 of the ’99 Eastern Conference Finals, one of the most dramatic moments in franchise history. He is still hearing about it.
“All the time,” he said. “All the time. And you know what? I never get tired of it.”
Johnson spent his first five seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, the only other franchise he played for after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in 1991. He has never gone back to their arena.
“You know how many times I’ve gone back to the Charlotte Hornets? Zero times,” he said. “I’ve been back to Charlotte because of Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry, been back for their golf tournament but never been back to the arena, not one time.”
“I don’t have no ill will, but they don’t do this,” and then Johnson pointed to his former New York teammates beside him. “The Knicks brought me back, brought Spree back, brought Marcus Camby, one of my best teammates, brought all of us back. If it takes us coming back to a game to see guys you haven’t seen in 10 years, 15 years, it’s more than worth it.”
“You know where my heart is. Once a Knick, always a Knick.”
‘We Want Them to Finish the Job’
There are clear connections between the old and new Knicks. Towns is among the best outside-shooting big men in league history, and Ewing was among the first at that position to command the same respect from 18 feet.
“I love KAT,” said Ewing. “He’s very talented, he shoots the ball, passes the ball, we’re expecting great things from him.”
Johnson sees his own game reflected in OG Anunoby: “me and OG have the same body type, did the same thing, shot a 3-pointer now and then, but really make our bones in the paint.”
When the conversation turns to the current roster, it centers on the group rather than any individual.
Ewing: “Leon (Rose, the team president) went out and got winning guys. I’m always around them, always give my opinion, make sure they feel the respect that I have for them.”
Johnson: “I like how they play the right way. You know, the NBA has changed, teams throwing up 3s. But these guys, they’re defense-first. They play together. They look out for each other. It’s hard to play in New York. These guys want to be here and you can tell by what they do on the court. They play the game the way it is meant to be played. How could you not love that? How could you not want to come back and see this?”
The Knicks do not have a monopoly on former players showing up for the playoffs. In San Antonio, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili, Sean Elliott, and a dreadlocked Duncan are sitting in the stands supporting Victor Wembanyama and the current Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. The difference is those ex-Spurs have rings, including Duncan and Robinson at the Knicks‘ expense in ’99. The dynamic in New York carries a different weight.
Ewing narrated the conference finals hype video that played before Game 1, speaking to the stakes, the pride of New York, and the value of teamwork. That is exactly why so many former Knicks, most of whom wore other uniforms at some point, keep coming back.
“This is the Mecca,” Ewing said. “Everybody wants to come back to the Mecca. I played 15 years here and everywhere I go, when they see me they think of my 15 years playing for the Knicks. We have a kinship with this team right now. We want them to get to where we didn’t get. Well, we got there, but we didn’t finish the job. We want them to finish the job.”
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