NBA: Perception Only Difference Between New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers
By Phil Watson
The Philadelphia 76ers are 4-27 this season, having narrowly avoided matching the NBA record for the worst start ever, winning in Game No. 18 after losing 17 in a row to open 2014-15.
Last season, they tied an NBA mark with 26 consecutive defeats.
But that’s all according to the plan put in place by general manager Sam Hinkie, who came in and stripped the club of most of its NBA-caliber assets in favor of accumulating future draft picks and young players. After years of riding the mediocre train, Philadelphia is trying to be really bad in order to become really good.
The New York Knicks are 5-30 this season, in the midst of a 10-game losing streak—already their second double-digit losing skein of the campaign, having dropped 10 straight from Nov. 24 through Dec. 10.
Yes, boys and girls, the Knicks are 1-20 in their last 21 and that’s after a 4-10 start to the season that wasn’t exactly setting the NBA on fire.
New York is a long way from its worst losing streak ever—the Knicks had a 20-game skid that spanned the end of 1984-85 and the beginning of 1985-86.
Their longest losing streak in a single season is 11, “accomplished” between Feb. 18 and March 5, 1960.
But the panic is already setting in among the New York fan base—never known as the most patient bunch.
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Never mind that club president Phil Jackson is in his first full season at the helm and at the age of 69 is involved in the first rebuilding project of his post-playing career.
So the question then becomes what is so different between the Philadelphia and New York situations? Both franchises are in the midst of rebuilding projects.
Is it that the Knicks are just more highly regarded than the 76ers from a historical perspective?
The numbers say they shouldn’t be. The reality is that they are.
In their 69th NBA season, the Knicks have won just two championships and those titles in 1970 and 1973 came at a time when the talent pool in professional basketball was more stretched thin than at any other point in the history of the sport.
In their 66th NBA season, the 76ers have won three titles—one as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955 as well as two in Philly in 1967 and 1983.
That 1955 title came as the association’s first dynasty—the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers—was coming to a close.
The championship in 1967 interrupted a string of eight straight titles by the Bill Russell-Red Auerbach fueled Boston Celtics dynasty.
And the title in 1983 came in the midst of a period where it could be argued the NBA had just four legitimate title contenders—the Los Angeles Lakers, who won five championships from 1980-88; the Celtics, who won three between 1981-86; the 76ers, who got the one in 1983; and the Milwaukee Bucks, who never got through the Eastern Conference’s twin powers in Boston and Philly.
In 65 complete seasons, the 76ers franchise has made the postseason 47 times and has an all-time winning percentage of .523.
In 68 complete seasons, the Knicks have made the postseason 42 times with an all-time winning percentage of .497.
So which is the better franchise? That’s a slam dunk.
It’s the 76ers who, by the way, have been to the NBA Finals more recently than the Knicks as well, reaching the Finals in 2001. The Knicks’ last trip to the big series at the end was two years prior, in the lockout-shortened 1999 season.
New York’s last NBA Finals appearance in a full season was in 1994.
If anything, Philadelphia would appear to have the most crucial advantage. Despite criticism from outside the market—myself included—over the tanking strategy, the majority of the 76ers’ fan base understand the rationale behind it.
Since that title in 1983, the franchise has only reached the Eastern Conference Finals twice—losing in 1985 and winning in 2001.
The rest of the time was spent in the quagmire of mediocrity that can suck the life out of a franchise—never winning more than 58 games (1984-85) or less than 27 save for a five-season period from 1992-93 (after Charles Barkley was traded to the Phoenix Suns) through 1996-97 (Allen Iverson’s rookie season).
The Knicks, on the other hand, have been stuck in a similar rut in terms of contending. Even during the Patrick Ewing era, New York made two NBA Finals trips and one additional visit to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Since Ewing was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in 2000, it’s been more bad than good for the Knicks—just four playoff appearances and one series victory.
But while Philadelphia’s fans—for the most part—are solidly on board with Hinkie’s plan, New York is already starting to grumble openly about the Phil Jackson era after just eight months and one draft cycle in which the team had to trade to get a pick at all, getting Wichita State star Cleanthony Early with the 34th overall selection.
But when you take a step back, the only real difference between these franchises is perception.
And as long as the Knicks cave into fan pressure to be mildly competitive—also known most recently as the Isiah Thomas era—the wait for that elusive next title will continue to get longer.
We don’t really know if Sam Hinkie or Phil Jackson have what it takes to rebuild a franchise into a championship contender.
But it appears Hinkie will at least get the opportunity to discover that answer.
If the New York fan base doesn’t take a good hard look at their team’s situation, Jackson might not.