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How can the Knicks end this series at home? Plus, remembering Dick Barnett.

Good morning! Tonight, the Knicks have a chance to close out a postseason series at Madison Square Garden for the first time since 1999. You might say its been a long time coming. Tip off is at 7:30 on TNT. New York has a clean injury report while Isaiah Stewart is once again questionable. Come say hi at at halftime.

Before we get to today’s column though, some quick thought on the legendary Dr. Dick Barnett…

Fall Back, Baby

I never know how to feel when I discover something new about a person who just died.

On one hand, I’m happy I learned something that helps me appreciate them even more. On the other hand, I feel bad that it took them passing away for me to become as informed as I already should have been. We should all do better to appreciate and understand people when they’re here, regardless of whether they’re close family or, in this case, a legend who most of us likely never met.

Like the majority of you reading, I never met Dr. Barnett in person, although I feel slightly more connected with him today than I did 24 hours ago. That’s because when I was researching the man and his legacy, I found out we had something in common besides our shared love of the Knicks. While I obtained both my bachelors and juris doctorate degrees from Fordham University, I learned that Dick Barnett got his doctorate in education from Fordham in 1991. I know we’ve produced more famous alumni, but as of yesterday afternoon, none are more hallowed in my book than Barnett.

The other fact I never realized before - and I’m quite ashamed to admit this - is where the nickname “Fall Back, Baby” came from. I knew that it originated from Chick Hearn, who called Lakers games when Barnett played in LA for three seasons before getting traded to the Knicks, but I always assumed that it was in direct reference to Barnett’s unorthodox jump shot, where his exaggerated leg kick would have him “falling backwards” after he released the ball:

Not so, according to this beautiful obituary from Richard Goldstein in the Times:

“Resembling a shot-putter, he put up high-arcing shots off his left ear, while telling the player guarding him, “too late,” and directing his teammates to “fall back,” since there would no need for an offensive rebound. When Barnett was playing with the Los Angeles Lakers, before he became a Knick, their longtime broadcaster Chick Hearn would shout when Barnett went up for a shot, “Fall back, baby!”

His doctorate and the form of his jumper were just two reasons Barnett was a unique character in the history of the league. Making his first All-Star appearnace at the age of 31, he was one of the oldest first-time All-Stars at the time he made the team. He remains the lone Knick to make only one All-Star team with the franchise and play that game at Madison Square Garden. In that 1968 game, Barnett scored 15 points in a 20-point East win - one fewer than his Hall-of-Fame teammate, Willis Reed.

Barnett’s journey to the Knicks was a complicated one. He was taken seventh overall¹ in the 1959 NBA Draft, which was a tangled web of characters where New York was concerned. They missed out on Barnett by one spot and took “Jumpin” Johnny Green instead. In 1963, the Knicks did trade for a player taken earlier in that draft, but it wasn’t Barnett. Instead, they acquired 1959’s top pick Bob Boozer, who spent parts of two seasons in New York before he was flipped to Los Angeles for - you guessed it - Barnett.

In between, Barnett played his first two NBA seasons for the Syracuse Nationals before taking a one-season detour to the short-lived American Basketball League, playing for a Cleveland Pipers team owned by a brash young businessman named George Steinbrenner who wanted to make inroads into sports. With Barnett as their second-leading scorer, the Pipers won the ABL championship in its only full year of existence. Barnett was named All-ABL First Team.

After his rights were sold to the Lakers, Barnett made two NBA Finals with LA. He lost to Boston both times but averaged 16 points in those two series. He made three more Finals with the Knicks, winning two and playing a vital role on the 1970 team. In the ‘70 Finals, he was part of an incredibly balanced scoring attack that helped knock off LA in seven games.

His high water mark in those Finals came in Game 4, when he led the Knicks with 29 points in an overtime loss, but that postseason was defined by what he did when the stakes were highest:

• First round close out Game 7 vs Baltimore: 28 points on 13-of-23 shooting

• Second round close out Game 5 vs Milwaukee: 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting

• Finals close out Game 7 vs Los Angeles: 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting

When he officially retired in 1974, Barnett had compiled one of the most impressive postseason resumes ever. He remains one of 10 players in NBA history to play their entire career before 1980 and average at least 15 points while appearing in more than 100 playoff games. Seven of the other nine were named members of the NBA’s Top 75 team, while the other two - Tom Heinsohn and Chet Walker - made six and seven All-Star games, respectively.

With company like that, it wasn’t a coincidence that wherever Barnett went, he usually did a lot of winning, even if his stats and accolades don’t reflect it as much a his peers.

Now that Barnett is gone, only two members of the iconic 1970 starting five are left. All five were in my top 12 all time Knicks when I ranked the top 75 players in franchise history three years ago, but I had Barnett last among the group, in 12th. That’s not a slight on Barnett, but the reality is that he hasn’t gotten the same recognition as some of his teammates on those squads, even with his Hall-of-Fame induction last year.

I hope today, all of us - younger fans especially - can take a moment to reflect on his importance, not only to the Knicks, but to the league. There is a difference between being a great player and being a great ambassador for the sport of basketball.

Barnett was unequivocally both.

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