KRISTAPS PORZINGIS HOT SIGNATURES AUTO ROOKIE REFRACTOR rc nba hoops HS-KP 2015

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 192888258867 KRISTAPS PORZINGIS HOT SIGNATURES AUTO ROOKIE REFRACTOR rc nba hoops HS-KP 2015. Check out our other new & used items>>>>>HERE! (click me) FOR SALE: A Panini NBA Hoops rookie refractor card with on-sticker autograph  2015 KRISTAPS PORZINGIS HOT SIGNATURES AUTO ROOKIE IN SLEEVE AND TOPLOADER     DETAILS: Card features a great, in-game photo and on-sticker signature in blue felt pen, of New York Knicks' star power forward/ center, Kristaps Porzingis (#6)! Catalog #: No. HS-KP (2015-16 Panini - Hoops Basketball Hot Signatures) CONDITION: Ungraded, near-mint condition. Card went from pack to sleeve and top loader so it looks great overall. The top loader case and sleeve have been previously used (may have some scratches and/or scuffs). Please see photos. *To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out.* THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "Kristaps Porziņģis (Latvian pronunciation: [ˈkris.taps ˈpuɔr.ziɲ.ɟis]; born 2 August 1995) is a Latvian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is one of the tallest active players in the NBA, standing at 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) tall, and plays both the power forward and center positions. Born in Liepāja, Porziņģis began his professional career with EuroLeague team Sevilla in 2012. Porziņģis quickly rose through the team's youth ranks and became the figurehead of the senior team by 2013. He subsequently won the EuroCup Basketball Rising Star award in 2015, where, at age 18, he became the youngest ever recipient of the award. The following summer, he declared for the NBA draft, where he was selected fourth overall by the New York Knicks. In New York, Porziņģis shone as the team's star; after disagreements with the front office, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2019. He remained as a star player in Dallas but was plagued by injuries during his tenure, and he was traded to the Washington Wizards in 2022.... Early career Porziņģis followed his parents' footsteps and started to play basketball at age six.[1] Once he turned 12, his older brother, Jānis, who played professionally in Europe, would take him to offseason training sessions.[2] He played in youth competition with BK Liepājas Lauvas, the most famous club based in hometown of Liepāja, until he was 15 years old. An agent from Latvia sent video of him around this time to teams in Spain and Italy.[1] In 2010, Baloncesto Sevilla, a club that had a professional team competing in the Liga ACB in Spain, called Porziņģis for a tryout in an attempt to recruit foreign talent to its junior squads. He stood 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and weighed 157 lb (71 kg) at this time.[1][3] Porziņģis recalled the moment and said, "I came here with my brother for two or three days, but it was really hot and I couldn't play at my best because of that. Still, I received a contract in summer 2010 and I signed it."[1] Inmaculada Avivar, a nutritionist for Sevilla, diagnosed that Porziņģis was suffering from anemia, meaning that he had fewer red blood cells.[4] This caused him to feel fatigue, shortness of breath, and inability to exercise. Nevertheless, he gradually overcame the condition and began seeing improvement in his game.[1] In addition to his medical problems, Porziņģis had trouble picking up the language in Seville, making him reluctant to return there after his first tryout. In his first season playing for the junior squad, he struggled to communicate with the coaching staff and his teammates and was often sleepy due to his health.[1] Porziņģis debuted for the youth squad on 4 January 2012, against its counterpart from Barcelona, adding 12 points and 10 rebounds. The opposing side was led by Alexander Zhigulin, who would go on to enter the 2015 NBA draft and withdraw.[5] However, Sevilla was defeated, 56–75.[6] This game was part of the Ciutat de L'Hospitalet tournament, which led up to the Nike International Junior Tournament (NIJT).[1] On 5 January, he scored a personal best of 16 points on the Spars Sarajevo youth squad, helping Sevilla beat their opponents by a margin of 8 points.[7] Porziņģis said, "I knew it was a prestigious tournament and that I had to do well", he said. "I think I could have done much better, but I wasn't physically 100 percent. I have seen videos and could have been much more aggressive. But I wish I could have played better."[1] He finished the tournament averaging 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.[1] Porziņģis represented the Sevilla junior team again at the same tournament in early 2013. Against Union Olimpija on 4 January, he recorded 15 points and 6 rebounds.[8] On 6 January, in the team's tournament finale vs Real Madrid's youth squad, he scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He also made a total of five three-pointers.[9] Porziņģis proved to be more effective in his second year, averaging 16.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks and going .481 on three-pointers.[1] This would be his final stint in the youth categories of Sevilla. Professional career Sevilla (2012–2015) 2012–13: Rookie season Entering the 2012–13 ACB season, Sevilla had hired Aíto García Reneses, who previously worked with the likes of Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernández.[1] On 29 September 2012, Porziņģis got the opportunity to make an appearance with the club's first team, but was allowed to play just a minute. Sevilla took a tremendous loss to CB Murcia.[10] Following a return to the youth categories of the club at the Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet, he went back to competing for the senior squad. On 16 January 2013, he logged only four minutes against Spartak Saint Petersburg in the EuroCup, scoring no points, but contributing one rebound and one assist.[11] He scored his first basket for the senior team on 20 February 2013, in a rematch with Spartak. Porziņģis said, "I was very nervous at the beginning: I wanted to do well and not pick up turnovers. At the same time, I got a lot of confidence with players of my same age. That allowed me to play better with the first team and practice with more confidence."[1] On 4 May 2013, he posted a season-high 7 points with the senior team, hitting two of three shots vs Bilbao Basket in ACB competition.[12] 2013–14: Second season and NBA consideration Porziņģis opened his second season on Sevilla's main squad strong in his third game against the EuroLeague team Laboral Kutxa, leading them to a 20-point ACB victory on 2 November 2013.[1] He notched a career-high 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks.[13] He broke his scoring record once more against Real Madrid on 30 November 2013, nearly leading his team to a victory.[1][13] Against the very same team on 6 April 2014, Porziņģis scored a career-high 20 points, nailing 2 three-pointers.[13] Despite his team losing, he began to trend on social media because of his performance. He said, "It was a very good game for me on offense. I didn't get any rebounds in that game. I had a good shooting night, but could have helped more on defense. Still, fans in Madrid gave me a nice ovation when I fouled out and I liked that a lot."[1] On 25 May, he got the chance to face his idol Justin Doellman of Barcelona, whom he called the "best power forward in Spanish basketball". He scored 14 points against Doellman's team.[1][13] In May 2014, Porziņģis was selected in the ACB All-Young Players Team of the 2013–14 season.[14] In April, Porziņģis declared himself eligible for the 2014 NBA draft.[15] Before and after he made the decision, he drew interest from National Basketball Association (NBA) teams such as the Orlando Magic, who held the 12th overall pick, and traveled to Europe to scout him. The Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly were certainly going to select him with the 21st pick in the case that he remained. Porziņģis was considered an unfinished product and a top-15 draft pick. According to DraftExpress.com, he was the fourth-youngest prospect in their top-100 rankings.[3][16] Shortly before the day of the draft, however, he withdrew his name. Porziņģis's agent Andy Miller released the information to ESPN, saying that his client did not feel prepared to become a part of the NBA and wanted to develop his skills until the 2015 draft. One of the league's general managers commented on him, "He's very talented. He wasn't ready, but we would've seriously considered drafting him anyway. If he continues to develop his game, get more minutes and his body develops, I think he could be a top-five pick in 2015. He has that kind of talent."[17] 2014–15: EuroCup Rising Star Prior to the 2014–15 ACB season, head coach Aíto García Reneses parted ways with Sevilla.[18] On 4 October 2014, against CB 1939 Canarias, Porziņģis made his season debut in the Liga ACB, scoring 3 points in the game. He made his first appearance at the 2014–15 EuroCup on 15 October, vs. EWE Baskets Oldenburg and scored 2 points. However, he had a strong EuroCup performance against Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the weeks that followed, in which he contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. He recorded a double-double in mid-November in a win over Estudiantes, adding 11 points and 11 rebounds. On 11 February 2015, he scored a season-high 19 points against the EuroCup's Turów Zgorzelec. He tied this record on 18 April 2015, vs. Bàsquet Manresa in the ACB.[19] On 15 April 2015, Porziņģis was named the winner of the EuroCup Rising Star Award of the season.[20] One month later, he repeated in the ACB All-Young Players Team, after avoiding the relegation with Baloncesto Sevilla.[21] New York Knicks (2015–2019) Porziņģis during 2015 NBA Summer League On 16 April 2015, Porziņģis entered the 2015 NBA draft, according to a report from agent Andy Miller.[22] After gaining a season more of experience, he became known as a lottery pick and a potential top-5 selection. He drew interest from teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, who had the No. 2 pick and had several personnel that had seen Porziņģis play in Spain.[23] He was compared with players such as Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki, but also Darko Miličić, a former lottery selection widely considered a draft bust.[24] Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Porziņģis has an innate awareness about the way the American public sees a young, long European teenager. He comes to the NBA with the full understanding that popular basketball culture declares him guilty until proven innocent of the basketball crimes of Darko Miličić and Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Andrea Bargnani. He's considered a stiff, a bust, a blown lottery pick until he doesn't become one..."[25] On 25 June 2015, Porziņģis was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.[26][27] He was booed by some New York fans upon being drafted, but vowed to change the fans' opinions on him from negative to positive.[28] On the same night, the New York Knicks traded for Porziņģis' teammate from Sevilla, Willy Hernangómez, who was originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers as a 35th overall pick.[29] Porziņģis became the highest drafted Latvian and Baltic player in NBA history. 2015–16: Rookie season Porziņģis on 31 October 2015, in his third NBA game On 30 July 2015, Porziņģis signed his rookie-scale contract with the Knicks.[30] On 28 October 2015, he scored 16 points in his NBA debut, leading New York to a 122–97 season-opening win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He was 3 of 11 from the field and 9 of 12 from the line.[31] On 21 November 2015, he had 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead the Knicks to a 107–102 victory over the Houston Rockets, becoming the first 20-year-old to post such a stat line in a single game since Shaquille O'Neal in 1992–93.[32] He became the first rookie to reach those totals since Tim Duncan in 1998.[33] On 3 December 2015, he was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in October and November. He ranked third among all rookies in scoring (13.7 ppg) and was second in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.89 bpg) for October and November.[33] He went on to claim Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honours for December and January as well.[34][35] On 12 February 2016, he scored 30 points for Team World in the Rising Stars Challenge.[36][37] On 23 March 2016, he tied a career high with 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win over the Chicago Bulls. He was one point short of becoming the first rookie since Patrick Ewing to put up 30 points and 10 rebounds in one game for the Knicks.[38] Porziņģis appeared in 72 of the Knicks' 82 games in 2015–16, missing the final seven games of the season due to a right shoulder strain.[39] He finished with averages of 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.9 blocks per game. Porziņģis finished second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting behind winner Karl-Anthony Towns,[40] and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.[41] 2016–18: Rise to stardom On 16 November 2016, Porziņģis scored a career-high 35 points in a 105–102 win over the Detroit Pistons.[42] On 11 December 2016, he recorded 26 points, 12 rebounds and a career high-tying seven blocks in a 118–112 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.[43] On 19 January 2017, he came off the bench for the first time in his NBA career after returning from a four-game absence due to a sore left Achilles tendon. He subsequently scored 15 points in a 113–110 loss to the Washington Wizards.[44] During the 2017 All-Star Weekend, Porziņģis played for Team World in the Rising Stars Challenge and won the Skills Challenge.[45] In the Knicks' season opener the following season, on 19 October 2017, Porziņģis had 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 105–84 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.[46] On 30 October 2017, he scored a career-high 38 points in a 116–110 win over the Denver Nuggets.[47] Less than a week later, on 5 November, Porziņģis set a new career high with 40 points in a 108–101 win over the Indiana Pacers.[48] Porziņģis was subsequently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, 30 October through Sunday, 5 November.[49] Porziņģis would record the best start to a season for Knicks player, earning 300 points through 10 games, two more than Bernard King had to open the 1984–85 season,[50][51] and his performances continued, where, on 23 January 2018, he was named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve.[52] However, on 6 February 2018, in a 103–89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks,[53] Porziņģis tore his left ACL.[54] He was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season. 2018–19: Injury and recovery In October 2018, the Knicks decided against signing Porziņģis to a rookie extension, a move that would give New York an extra $10 million in cap space in the summer of 2019 while making Porziņģis a restricted free agent in the offseason.[55] Due to recovering from his ACL injury, Porziņģis did not play for the Knicks to begin the 2018–19 season. Dallas Mavericks (2019–2022) On 31 January 2019, after a meeting with the Knicks left franchise officials with the impression that he wanted to be traded,[56] Porziņģis was traded alongside Trey Burke, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr., an unprotected 2021 first-round draft pick, and an additional top-ten protected 2023 first round draft pick.[57][58] He sat out the remainder of the 2018–19 season, healing from his ACL injury. On 12 July, Porziņģis agreed to re-sign with the Mavericks on a five-year maximum contract worth $158 million.[59][60] 2019–20: Playoff debut Porziņģis debuted for the Mavericks on 23 October 2019, posting 23 points and 4 rebounds in a 108–100 win over the Washington Wizards.[61] On 31 January 2020, he scored a then season-high 35 points, along with 12 rebounds in a 128–121 loss to the Houston Rockets.[62] On 3 February, that season-high would be surpassed with a 38-point, 12-rebound performance in a 112–103 win over the Indiana Pacers.[63] Just two days later, Porziņģis would follow that up with 32 points and 12 rebounds in a 121–107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, before leaving the game with a broken nose.[64][65] On 1 March, Porziņģis matched his then season-high 38 points, along with 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, in a 111–91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[66] Three days later, he registered 34 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in a 127–123 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans, becoming the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to have consecutive 30-point, 5-block games.[67][68] On 2 March 2021, Porziņģis was named the Western Conference player of the week, his second time to earn player of the week honors. From 25 February to 1 March Porzingis averaged 26.3 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks per game. The Mavericks won three games and lost once.[69] On 31 July, Porziņģis recorded a season-high 39 points, as well as 16 rebounds, in a 153–149 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets. This was the Mavericks’ first game in the Orlando bubble, returning from a four-month hiatus due to the [70] Porziņģis finished his bubble play strong, averaging 30.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 blocks per game across six games, earning him All Seeding Games Second Team honors. .[71] On 17 August, Porziņģis made his NBA playoff debut in a 118–110 loss in Game 1 to the Los Angeles Clippers, recording 14 points and six rebounds before being ejected early in the third quarter following an altercation with Marcus Morris.[72] Two days later in Game 2, Porziņģis would help the Mavericks even up the series with a 23-point and 7-rebound performance in a 127–114 victory before posting 34 points and 13 rebounds in a 130–122 loss in Game 3.[73][74] However, Porziņģis would miss the remainder of the series with a lateral meniscus tear and Dallas would be eliminated in six games.[75] 2020–21: Playoff fallout Porziņģis with the Mavericks in 2020 Porziņģis had surgery on his torn lateral meniscus on 9 October 2020.[76] Porziņģis would go on to miss the first 9 games of the 2020-21 NBA season recovering from surgery before making his season debut on 13 January 2021, against the Charlotte Hornets. Porziņģis scored 16 points in his season debut and was held to a 21-minute restriction.[77] As a precautionary measure, Porziņģis would not play in the majority of back to back games during the regular season. On 12 February 2021, Porzingis would score a season high 36 points with a career high eight made three pointers in a 143–130 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.[78] On 26 March 2021, Porziņģis would tie a career high by grabbing 18 rebounds in a 109–94 loss to the Indiana Pacers.[79] Dallas improved on their previous season record and finished the season 42–30. The Mavericks clinched the Southwest division for the first time since the 2009–10 season following a 110–90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on 7 May 2021.[80] Porziņģis finished the season averaging 20.1 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game. The 2020–21 season proved to be Porziņģis' most efficient season of his career thus far, posting career highs in eFG%, TS% and FG% statistics. Porziņģis became just the sixth player in Dallas Mavericks franchise history to have multiple seasons averaging over 20 points per game, joining Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Luka Dončić, Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki.[81] However, Porziņģis' numbers dropped drastically during the first round of the playoffs, averaging 13.1 points per game and grabbing 5.4 rebounds per game. The Mavericks would go onto lose in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers for the second consecutive season in seven games.[82] Following the series, Porziņģis would get roundly mocked for his subpar performance during the series with many fans calling him "Pandemic P",[83] a name originally used for mocking Paul George for his abysmal performance during the 2020 playoffs. Porziņģis was disgruntled with his role in the first round series against the Clippers, often being relegated to a decoy or three-point spacing threat. Rumors of him wanting a trade in the offseason began to form, but nothing became of it. Porziņģis began training for the upcoming season. In an Instagram post, Porziņģis vowed to come back stronger and more refined and that the Unicorn 2.0 was incoming.[84] 2021–22 season Following the 2021 playoffs, the Mavericks parted ways with long time head coach Rick Carlisle who resigned from his position as head coach after 13 seasons.[85][86] Jason Kidd was hired as the team's new head coach, marking Porziņģis' sixth head coach in seven NBA seasons. The 2021 offseason was the first offseason that Porziņģis was not recovering from injury since entering the league in 2015.[87] Porziņģis scored 11 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and recorded 2 blocks in the Mavericks season opening 87–113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.[88] Porziņģis would play three games before missing a string of games with lower back tightness. Porziņģis made his return to action 6 November 2021, against the Boston Celtics. He scored 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Porziņģis scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a putback dunk to tie the game at 104.[89] Porziņģis scored a season-high 32 points in a 123–109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on 12 November 2021.[90] Washington Wizards (2022–present) On 10 February 2022, the Mavericks traded Porziņģis and a protected 2022 second-round pick to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Dāvis Bertāns.[91] National team career Junior national team Porziņģis played with the Latvian youth team and was selected in the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship All-Tournament Team. Senior national team In 2017, Porziņģis played for Latvia at EuroBasket 2017, where he averaged 23.6 points per game (ranked third), 5.9 rebounds per game (ranked 19th) and 1.9 blocks per game (ranked first).[92] Latvia was eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual champions Slovenia, losing 97–103. Against Slovenia, Porzingis scored a tournament-high 34 points despite playing in foul trouble throughout the game. Porzingis scored 16 of his 34 points in the final period to help Latvia cut Slovenia's 13-point lead to two with two minutes remaining. Future teammate and then 18-year-old, Luka Dončić, scored 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Slovenia. Player profile     "He's a guy I've always looked up to. It's not fair for me to be compared to a legend like him." —Porziņģis on Dirk Nowitzki, August 2017[93] Porziņģis has been compared to Dirk Nowitzki, with the pair having both been groomed in Europe before entering the NBA. Both Porziņģis and Nowitzki are seven-foot-plus players who are comfortable anywhere on the front line and can both shoot from the outside.[93] During his rookie season, Kevin Durant dubbed Porziņģis a basketball "unicorn" because of his rare combination of talents.[94] In January 2018, Porziņģis was averaging 19 shot attempts per game for the Knicks, the most ever by a player his size (the only players 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) or taller to average 15 field goal attempts per game were Ralph Sampson and Yao Ming). Due to his height and mobility, Porziņģis is able to shoot over most defenders, with his sheer size and high volume creating a unique advantage shared by no other player in the league.[95] Career statistics Legend   GP     Games played       GS      Games started      MPG      Minutes per game  FG%      Field goal percentage      3P%      3-point field goal percentage      FT%      Free throw percentage  RPG      Rebounds per game      APG      Assists per game      SPG      Steals per game  BPG      Blocks per game      PPG      Points per game      Bold      Career high NBA Regular season Year     Team     GP     GS     MPG     FG%     3P%     FT%     RPG     APG     SPG     BPG     PPG 2015–16     New York     72     72     28.4     .421     .333     .838     7.3     1.3     .7     1.9     14.3 2016–17     New York     66     65     32.8     .450     .357     .786     7.2     1.5     .7     2.0     18.1 2017–18     New York     48     48     32.4     .439     .395     .793     6.6     1.2     .8     2.4     22.7 2019–20     Dallas     57     57     31.8     .427     .352     .799     9.5     1.8     .7     2.0     20.4 2020–21     Dallas     43     43     30.9     .476     .376     .855     8.9     1.6     .5     1.3     20.1 2021–22     Dallas     34     34     29.5     .451     .283     .865     7.7     2.0     .7     1.7     19.2 Career     320     319     31.0     .442     .353     .816     7.8     1.5     .7     1.9     18.7 Playoffs Year     Team     GP     GS     MPG     FG%     3P%     FT%     RPG     APG     SPG     BPG     PPG 2020     Dallas     3     3     31.3     .525     .529     .870     8.7     .7     .0     1.0     23.7 2021     Dallas     7     7     33.3     .472     .296     .842     5.4     1.3     1.3     .7     13.1 Career     10     10     32.7     .491     .386     .857     6.4     1.1     .9     .8     16.3 Europe Liga ACB Year     Team     GP     GS     MPG     FG%     3P%     FT%     RPG     APG     SPG     BPG     PPG 2012–13     Cajasol Sevilla     7     0     14.9     .500     .500     .667     .7     .0     .3     .1     2.6 2013–14     Cajasol Sevilla     32     32     14.9     .476     .333     .607     2.8     .3     .6     .9     6.7 2014–15     Baloncesto Sevilla     34     34     21.7     .471     .313     .774     4.8     .4     .9     1.0     10.7 Career     73     67     17.3     .474     .326     .730     3.5     .3     .7     .9     8.2 Personal life Kristaps Porziņģis in 2017, when he was in Latvia Porziņģis was born to parents who had experience playing the game of basketball. Tālis, his father, competed semi-professionally before becoming a bus driver. His mother, Ingrīda, was previously on Latvia women's youth national basketball team.[96] Kristaps's older brother, Jānis, also played professionally,[1] while Mārtiņš, who is approximately fifteen years older than his youngest sibling, was also an avid player.[96] In a 2017 E:60 documentary on Porziņģis' life, his parents revealed that they had another son, Toms, who was born four years before Kristaps and died at 14 months. Through an interpreter, Ingrīda said about Toms' death, "It felt like a bulldozer had run over my life. We had two other children who we had to care for. We had to live on. After Kristaps was born, it was like he had to live for two lives."[97] Jānis Porziņģis competed at the European second tier EuroCup level, the same level in Europe that Kristaps later played at, in one game,[98] and played European professional club basketball in various national leagues, including the Italian League,[99] for more than 10 years. He is known to mentor his younger brother on and off the court and often called him after playing games for Cajasol Sevilla in Spain. Kristaps talked about the relationship in an interview, "We'd break down the details. We watched the film together. He's always pushing me to work hard. We just spend a lot of time together and we just talk about basketball all the time..."[100] The elder Porziņģis helped him train in the summer and work out in the gym in preparation for international competition in 2012.[1] Following two seasons in Spain and almost two years living in Seville, Porziņģis was able to speak Spanish far more fluently. Porziņģis is thus fluent in three different languages, including English.[1] An NBA executive said, "He speaks great English and I don't see it being that difficult of a transition off the court."[101] In October 2016, Porziņģis signed a shoe deal with Adidas, the most lucrative deal for a European player. He made the switch to Adidas after partnering with Nike for his rookie season.[102][103] Porziņģis is a football fan and supports his hometown team FK Liepāja, as well as Real Madrid and former club Sevilla.[104][non-primary source needed] He is also an avid fan of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which he plays regularly.[105] In 2015, Porziņģis was named the Latvian Rising Star of the Year." (wikipedia.org) "The New York Knickerbockers,[3][7] shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, an arena they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City; the other team is the Brooklyn Nets. Alongside the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams still located in its original city. The team, established by Ned Irish in 1946, was one of the founding members of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which became the NBA after merging with the rival National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949. The Knicks were successful during their early years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchise's first head coach Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts. Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team subsequently began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when Red Holzman became the head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance. Holzman successfully guided the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success that included six playoff appearances; however, they failed to participate in the NBA Finals. The playoff-level Knicks of the 1990s were led by future Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing; this era was marked by passionate rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat. During this time, they were known for playing tough defense under head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, making NBA Finals appearances in 1994 and 1999. However, they were unable to win an NBA championship during this era. Since 2000, the Knicks have struggled to regain their former successes, but won their first division title in 19 years in 2012–13, led by a core of forwards Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. They were eventually eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Indiana Pacers, and had failed to make the playoffs for eight years until 2020–21 when they were led by forward Julius Randle and sophomore RJ Barrett, who was selected third overall in the 2019 NBA draft.... History See also: List of New York Knicks seasons 1946–1967: Early years In 1946, basketball, particularly college basketball, was a growing and increasingly profitable sport in New York City.[9] Hockey was another popular sport at the time and generated considerable profits; however, the arenas were not used often.[10] Max Kase, a New York sportswriter, became the sports editor at the Boston American in the 1930s, when he met Boston Garden owner Walter A. Brown.[11] Kase developed the idea of an organized professional league to showcase college players upon their graduation and felt it could become profitable if properly assembled.[11] Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to attain additional income when the hockey teams were not playing or on the road, contacted several arena owners.[11] On June 6, 1946, Kase and Brown and a group of seventeen others assembled at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA), where charter franchises were granted to major cities throughout the country.[12] Ned Irish, a college basketball promoter, retired sportswriter and then president of Madison Square Garden, was in attendance.[11][13] Kase originally planned to own and operate the New York franchise himself and approached Irish with a proposal to lease the Garden.[11] Irish explained that the rules of the Arena Managers Association of America stated that Madison Square Garden was required to own any professional teams that played in the arena.[11] On the day of the meeting, Kase made his proposal to the panel of owners; however, they were much more impressed by Irish and his vast resources; Kase relented and the franchise was awarded to Irish.[11] Irish wanted a distinct name for his franchise that was representative of the city of New York.[14] He called together members of his staff for a meeting to cast their votes in a hat. After tallying the votes, the franchise was named the Knickerbockers.[14] The "Knickerbocker" name comes from the pseudonym used by Washington Irving in his book A History of New York, a name that became applied to the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of what later became New York, and later, by extension, to New Yorkers in general.[3] In search of a head coach, Irish approached successful St. John's University coach Joe Lapchick in May 1946.[14] Lapchick readily accepted after Irish promised to make him the highest-paid coach in the league; however, he requested he remain at St. John's one more season in hopes of winning one last championship.[15] Irish obliged, hiring former Manhattan College coach Neil Cohalan as interim coach for the first year.[15] With no college draft in the league's initial year, there was no guarantee that the Knicks or the league itself would thrive.[16] Consequently, teams focused on signing college players from their respective cities as a way to promote the professional league.[15] The Knicks held their first training camp in the Catskill Mountains at the Nevele Country Club.[17] Twenty-five players were invited to attend the three-week session.[17] Players worked out twice a day and the chemistry between the New York natives was instant.[18] With a roster assembled, the Knicks faced the Toronto Huskies at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on November 1, 1946, in what would be the franchise's first game—as well as the first in league history.[17] In a low-scoring affair presented in front of 7,090 spectators, the Knicks defeated the Huskies 68–66 with Leo Gottlieb leading the Knicks in scoring with 14 points.[19] With Madison Square Garden's crowded schedule, the Knicks were forced to play many of their home games at the 69th Regiment Armory during the team's early years.[13] The Knicks went on to finish their inaugural campaign with a 33–27 record and achieved a playoff berth under Cohalan despite a dismal shooting percentage of 28 percent.[16] The Knicks faced the Cleveland Rebels in the quarterfinals, winning the series 2–1.[20] However, the Knicks were swept by the Philadelphia Warriors in two games in the semifinals.[20] As promised, Lapchick took over in 1947, bringing with him his up-tempo coaching style, which emphasized fast ball movement.[21] Six new players were signed, including guard Carl Braun[20] and Japanese-American guard Wataru Misaka, the first non-Caucasian basketball player in the BAA.[22] Under Lapchick, the Knicks made nine straight playoff appearances beginning in 1947.[23] Braun, who averaged 14.3 points, emerged as the team's star and paired with Dick Holub and Bud Palmer to account for half of the team's offense.[20] Despite this, the Knicks struggled throughout the year, compiling a 26–22 record.[20] Their finish was good enough to place them second in the Eastern Division and secure a playoff match-up against the Baltimore Bullets where they lost the series two games to one.[20] In the 1948 NBA draft, the Knicks selected two future Hall of Fame players in center Dolph Schayes and Harry Gallatin.[24] The Knicks were leery of Schayes' talent, prompting the center to leave to play for the Syracuse Nationals of the struggling National Basketball League.[24] Despite losing Schayes, the team started the year well going 17–8 before they fell into a slump.[25] They ended the year with a seven-game win streak to finish with a 32–28 record and a third-straight playoff appearance.[25] The Knicks defeated the Bullets in a rematch of their previous encounter in 1947, winning the series 2–1.[25] The team however struggled against the Washington Capitols and lost the series 1–2.[25] Lapchick was responsible for leading the Knicks during their early success. However, these ventures never culminated with a win in the NBA Finals. Prior to the beginning of the 1949–50 season, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association with the BAA absorbing six teams from its former competitor.[23] Despite division realignments, the Knicks remained in the Eastern Division.[23] The team continued its dominance under Lapchick, winning 40 games; however they lost the Eastern Division finals to the Syracuse Nationals.[23] The following season, the Knicks made history signing Sweetwater Clifton to a contract, thus becoming the first professional basketball team to sign an African American player.[23] During this same season, the Knicks finished with a 36–30 record. Though they placed third in their division, they secured a playoff spot and began the first of three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals.[23] In spite of their success, the Knicks could not overcome the Rochester Royals despite a valiant comeback after losing the first three games of the Finals.[23] The next two years, in 1952 and 1953, New York fell to the Minneapolis Lakers in the Finals.[23] It was during this early period, the Knicks developed their first standout players in Carl Braun who retired as the Knicks leading scorer with 10,449 points before later being surpassed by the likes of Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed.[23] Harry Gallatin and Dick McGuire were also well-known standouts on the team and were later enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[23] Following these back-to-back losses, the Knicks made the playoffs in the subsequent two years with no success. Lapchick resigned as the team's head coach in January 1956 citing health-related issues.[26] Vince Boryla made his debut in February 1956 as the Knicks' new coach in a win over the St. Louis Hawks.[27] However, after two seasons of poor performances and no playoff appearances, Boryla tendered his resignation from the team in April 1958.[28] Looking to regain their former dominance, Andrew Levane was named the head coach and in his first year, the results were significantly better as the team finished with a 40–32 record, securing their playoff spot.[29] However, the Knicks could not manage to get past the Eastern Division semi-finals.[29] The Levane-led squad fared poorly to begin the 1959–60 season and under mounting pressure Levane resigned and was immediately replaced by Carl Braun, who became the team's first player-coach.[30] The team did not fare much better under Braun and the Knicks hired Eddie Donovan, who helped build up St. Bonaventure's basketball team, in 1961.[31] During Donovan's tenure, New York failed to achieve a playoff berth. As a testament to their struggles, on March 2, 1962, the Knicks faced the Philadelphia Warriors in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where they infamously allowed Wilt Chamberlain to score an NBA-record 100 points in a 169–147 Warriors victory.[23][29] In 1964, the franchise's fortunes began to take a steady turn. The Knicks drafted center Willis Reed, who made an immediate impact on the court and was named NBA Rookie of the Year for his efforts.[23] However, the leaders of the team still remained in flux. In an attempt to reorganize, the Knicks named former standout Harry Gallatin as head coach while reassigning Donovan to general manager position.[32] After a slow start in 1965, Dick McGuire, another former Knick, replaced his former teammate Gallatin midway through the season.[29] Though he failed to guide the Knicks to the playoffs in 1965, he managed to do so the following season, however, the Knicks lost in the Eastern Division semi-finals.[29] 1967–1975: Championship years Willis Reed and Walt 'Clyde' Frazier, under coach Red Holzman, brought the Knicks two NBA Championships in the early 1970s The Knicks started their 1967–68 season with a 124–122 win over the visiting Warriors. In that game, seven players on the Knicks' roster scored in double figures.[33] However, the Knicks lost their next six games, falling to a 1–6 record. They managed to stop their losing streak on November 1, 1967, when the Knicks won the road game against the Lakers, 129–113. During the game, Willis Reed scored a career-high 53 points on 21-of-29 shooting from the field.[34] On November 3, the Knicks defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 134–100 in Seattle. In that game, nine Knicks' player scored at least 10 points.[35] Head coach Dick McGuire was replaced midway through the 1967–68 season after the team began the season with a 15–22 record.[29] With the Knicks under .500, the team decided to hire coach Red Holzman, whose impact was immediate. Under his direction, the Knicks went 28–17 and finished with a 43–39 record thus salvaging a playoff berth, however, the Knicks were again vanquished in the Eastern Division semi-finals by the Philadelphia 76ers.[29] However their roster was slowly coming together piece by piece. Rookies Phil Jackson and Walt Frazier were named to the NBA All-Rookie Team while Dick Barnett and Willis Reed performed in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game.[23] The following season, the team acquired Dave DeBusschere from the Detroit Pistons, and the team went 54–28.[29][36] In the playoffs, New York made it past the first round of contention for the first time since 1953, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in four games, before falling to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division finals.[37] In the 1969–70 season, the Knicks had a then-single-season NBA record 18 straight victories en route to a 60–22 record, which was the best regular season record in the franchise's history to that point.[38][39] After defeating the Bullets in the Eastern Division semifinals and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Division finals, the Knicks faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.[38] With the series tied at 2–2, the Knicks would be tested in Game 5. Willis Reed tore a muscle in his right leg in the second quarter, and was lost for the rest of the game.[40] Despite his absence, New York went on to win the game, rallying from a 16-point deficit.[40] Without their injured captain the Knicks lost Game 6, setting up one of the most famous moments in NBA history.[40] Reed limped onto the court before the seventh game, determined to play through the pain of his injury.[40] He scored New York's first two baskets before going scoreless for the remainder of the contest.[40] Although he was not at full strength, Reed's heroics inspired the Knicks, and they won the game by a score of 113–99, allowing New York to capture the title that had eluded them for so long.[40] Reed, who had been named the All-Star MVP and the league's MVP that season, was named MVP of the Finals, becoming the first player to attain all three awards in a single season.[40] The Knicks' success continued for the next few years. After losing to the Bullets in the 1971 Eastern Conference finals, the team, aided by the acquisitions of Jerry Lucas and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, returned to the Finals in 1972.[23] This time the Knicks fell to the Lakers in five games.[23] The next year, the results were reversed, as the Knicks defeated the Lakers in five games to win their second NBA title in four years.[41] The team had one more impressive season in 1973–74, as they reached the Eastern Conference finals, where they fell in five games to the Celtics.[42] It was after this season that Willis Reed announced his retirement, and the team's fortunes began to shift once more.[43] 1975–1985: Post-championship years In the 1974–75 season, the Knicks posted a 40–42 record, their first losing record in eight seasons. The team still qualified for a playoff spot, however, but they lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round.[23] After two more seasons with losing records,[29] Holzman was replaced by Willis Reed, who signed a three-year contract.[44] In Reed's first year, New York finished the year with a 43–39 record and returned to the Eastern Conference semi-finals, where they were swept by the Philadelphia 76ers.[45] The next season, after the team began with a 6–8 record,[46] Holzman was rehired as the team's coach after Reed had angered Madison Square Garden president Sonny Werblin.[47][48] The team did not fare any better under Holzman's direction, finishing with a 31–51 record, their worst in thirteen years.[46] After improving to a 39–43 record in the 1979–80 season, the Knicks posted a 50–32 record in the 1980–81 season.[23] In the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls swept New York in two games.[23] Holzman retired the following season as one of the winningest coaches in NBA history. The team's record that year was a dismal 33–49.[23] However, Holzman's legacy would continue through the players he influenced. One of the Knicks' bench players and defensive specialists during the 1970s was Phil Jackson. Jackson went on to coach the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to 11 NBA championships, surpassing Red Auerbach for the most in NBA history. Jackson cited Holzman as a significant influence on his career in the NBA.[49] Hubie Brown replaced Holzman as head coach and in his first season, the team went 44–38 and made it to the second round of the playoffs, where they were swept by the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers.[50] The next season, the team, aided by new acquisition Bernard King, improved to 47–35 and returned to the playoffs.[23] The team defeated the Detroit Pistons in the first round with an overtime win in the fifth and deciding game, before losing in the second round in seven games to the Celtics.[23] The team's struggles continued into the 1984–85 season, as they lost their last 12 games to finish with a 24–58 record.[23] The first of these losses occurred on March 23, 1985, where King injured his knee and spent the next 24 months in rehabilitation.[23] 1985–2000: The Patrick Ewing era Patrick Ewing played for the Knicks from 1985 to 2000, leading them to the Finals in 1994 and 1999 In the summer of 1985, the Knicks were entered into the first-ever NBA Draft Lottery.[51] The Knicks ended up winning the number one pick in that year's NBA draft. They used the pick to select star center Patrick Ewing of Georgetown University.[51] In Ewing's first season with the Knicks, he led all rookies in scoring (20 points per game) and rebounds (9 rebounds per game), and he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.[52] The team would not fare as well, though, as they struggled to a 23–59 record in his first season.[29] During Ewing's second season, the team started with a 4–12 record and head coach Hubie Brown was dismissed in favor of assistant Bob Hill.[53] Under Hill, the Knicks had brief successes but went on to lose seventeen of their twenty-one final games of the season to finish 20–46 under Hill and 24–58 on the season.[54][55] Hill was dismissed at season's end.[56] The team immediately turned around in the 1987–88 season with the hiring of Rick Pitino as head coach, who, only months prior to his hiring, led Providence College to the Final Four, turning around a program that had struggled prior to his arrival.[56] Combined with the selection of point guard Mark Jackson, who won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and garnered MVP consideration, in the draft and with Ewing's consistently stellar play, the Knicks made the playoffs with a record of 38–44, where they were defeated by the Celtics in the first round.[57][58] The resurgence continued the following season as the team traded backup center Bill Cartwright to the Bulls for power forward Charles Oakley before the season started and then posted a 52–30 record, which was good enough for their first division title in 18 years and their fifth division title in franchise history.[59][60][61] In the playoffs, they defeated the 76ers in the first round before losing to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.[60] Prior to the start of the 1989–90 season, Pitino departed from New York to coach for the University of Kentucky leaving many stunned by his departure.[62] Assistant Stu Jackson was named as Pitino's replacement becoming the team's 14th head coach and the youngest head coach in the NBA, at the time, at the age of 32.[63] Under Jackson's direction, the Knicks went 45–37 and defeated the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, winning the final three games after losing the first two. They went on to lose to the eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons in the next round.[64] Jackson and the Knicks struggled to a 7–8 record to begin the 1990–91 season and Jackson was replaced by John MacLeod who led the Knicks to a 32–35 record, ending the season with a 39–43 record overall that was good enough to earn the team another playoff appearance. The Knicks were swept in the first round by the eventual NBA champion, Chicago Bulls.[65] 1991–1996: The Pat Riley/Don Nelson years After the conclusion of the season, MacLeod left the team to become the head coach at the University of Notre Dame. President David Checketts reached out to Pat Riley, who was working as a commentator for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), to see if he was interested in returning to coaching. Riley accepted the Knicks proposition on May 31, 1991.[66] Riley, who coached the Lakers to four NBA titles during the 1980s, implemented a rough and physical style emphasizing defense.[66] Under Riley, the team, led by Ewing and guard John Starks, who scored 24 points per game and 13.9 points per game respectively, improved to a 51–31 record, tying them for first place in the Atlantic Division.[67][68] After defeating the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, the team faced the Bulls, losing the series 4–3 in seven games.[68] The 1992–93 season proved to be even more successful, as the Knicks won the Atlantic Division with a 60–22 record. Before the season, the Knicks traded Mark Jackson to the Los Angeles Clippers for Charles Smith, Doc Rivers, and Bo Kimble while also acquiring Rolando Blackman from the Dallas Mavericks. After defeating the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference finals, where once again they met the Bulls. After taking a 2–0 series lead, the Knicks lost the next four games. After the Bulls' Michael Jordan made what would be his first retirement from basketball prior to the 1993–94 season, many saw this as an opportunity for the Knicks to finally make it to the NBA Finals. The team, who acquired Derek Harper in a midseason trade with the Dallas Mavericks, once again won the Atlantic Division with a 57–25 record. In the playoffs, the team played a then NBA-record 25 games (the Boston Celtics played 26 games in the 2008 playoffs); they started by defeating the New Jersey Nets in the first round before finally getting past the Bulls, defeating them in the second round in seven games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they faced the Indiana Pacers, who at one point held a three games-to-two lead. They had this advantage thanks to the exploits of Reggie Miller, who scored 25 fourth-quarter points in Game 5 to lead the Pacers to victory. However, the Knicks won the next two games to reach their first NBA Finals since 1973. In the finals, the Knicks would play seven low-scoring, defensive games against the Houston Rockets. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks would win two out of three games at Madison Square Garden, which also hosted the New York Rangers first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years following their win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of their finals during the series. (A Knicks win would have made the Garden the first building to host a Cup winner and an NBA champ in the same season.) In Game 6, however, a last-second attempt at a game-winning shot by Starks was tipped by Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, giving the Rockets an 86–84 victory and forcing a Game 7. The Knicks lost Game 7 90–84, credited in large part to Starks's dismal 2-for-18 shooting performance and Riley's stubborn refusal to bench Starks, despite having bench players who were renowned for their shooting prowess, such as Rolando Blackman and Hubert Davis available. The loss denied New York the distinction of having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year. Nevertheless, the Knicks had gotten some inspiration from Mark Messier and the Rangers during the finals. The next year, the Knicks were second place in the Atlantic Division with a 55–27 record. The team defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers before facing the Pacers again in the second round. The tone for the Knicks–Pacers series was set in Game 1, as Miller once again became a clutch nuisance to the Knicks by scoring eight points in the final 8 seconds of the game to give the Pacers a 107–105 victory. The series went to a Game 7, and when Patrick Ewing's last-second finger roll attempt to tie the game missed, the Pacers clinched the 97–95 win. Riley resigned the next day,[69] and the Knicks hired Don Nelson as their new head coach. However Nelson's uptempo approach clashed with the Knicks' defensive identity, and during the 1995–96 season, Nelson was fired after 59 games, and, instead of going after another well-known coach, the Knicks hired longtime assistant Jeff Van Gundy, who had no prior experience as a head coach. The Knicks ended up with a 47–35 record that year, and swept the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the eventual champion Bulls (who had an NBA record 72 wins in the regular season) in five games. 1996–2000: The Jeff Van Gundy years In the 1996–97 season, the Knicks, with the additions of such players as Larry Johnson and Allan Houston, registered a 57–25 record. In the playoffs, the Knicks swept the Charlotte Hornets in the first round before facing the Miami Heat (coached by Riley) in the second round. The Knicks took a 3–1 lead in the series before a brawl near the end of Game 5 resulted in suspensions of key players. Many of the suspended Knicks players, Ewing in particular, were disciplined not for participating in the altercation itself, but for violating an NBA rule stipulating that a benched player may not leave the bench during a fight (the rule was subsequently amended, making it illegal to leave the "bench area"). With Ewing and Houston suspended for Game 6, Johnson and Starks suspended for Game 7, and Charlie Ward suspended for both, the Knicks lost the series. The 1997–98 season was marred by a wrist injury to Ewing on December 22, which forced him to miss the rest of the season and much of the playoffs. The team, which had a 43–39 record that season, still managed to defeat the Heat in the first round (a series, which saw another violent bench-clearing brawl at the end of Game 4, this time between Johnson and former Hornets teammate Alonzo Mourning) of the playoffs before having another meeting with the Pacers in the second round. Ewing returned in time for game two of the series. This time, the Pacers easily won the series in five games, as Reggie Miller once again broke the hearts of Knicks fans by hitting a tying three-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining in Game 4, en route to a Pacers overtime victory. For the fourth straight year, the Knicks were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. Prior to the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, the Knicks traded Charles Oakley to the Toronto Raptors for Marcus Camby while also trading John Starks in a package to the Golden State Warriors for 1994's 1st team all-league shooting guard Latrell Sprewell (whose contract was voided by the Warriors after choking Warriors' head coach P. J. Carlesimo during the previous season). After barely getting into the playoffs with a 27–23 record, the Knicks started a Cinderella run. It started with the Knicks eliminating the #1 seeded Heat in the first round after Allan Houston bounced in a running one-hander off the front of the rim, high off the backboard, and in with 0.8 seconds left in the deciding 5th game. This remarkable upset marked only the second time in NBA history that an 8-seed had defeated the 1-seed in the NBA playoffs, and also the first time it happened in the Eastern Conference. After defeating the Atlanta Hawks in the second round four games to none, they faced the Pacers yet again in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite losing Ewing to injury for the rest of the playoffs prior to Game 3, the Knicks won the series (aided in part to a four-point play by Larry Johnson in the final seconds of Game 3) to become the first eighth-seeded playoff team to make it to the NBA Finals. However, in the Finals, the San Antonio Spurs, with superstars David Robinson and Tim Duncan, proved too much for the injury-laden Knicks, who lost in five games. The remarkable fifth game of this Finals is remembered for its 2nd half scoring duel between the Spurs' Tim Duncan and the Knicks' Latrell Sprewell, and was decided by a long jumper by Avery Johnson with 47 seconds left to clinch the title for the Spurs. The 1999–2000 season, would prove to be the last one in New York for Ewing, as the Knicks, who had a 50–32 record that season swept the Toronto Raptors a team led by Vince Carter, Antonio Davis and a young Tracy McGrady in three games in the first round, defeated the Miami Heat in another dramatic seven-game series in which Ewing's dunk with over a minute remaining in game 7, provided the winning margin in a 1-point road victory. They would, however, lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Reggie Miller-led Indiana Pacers in six games. After the season, Ewing was traded[70] on September 20, 2000, to the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Ewing era, which produced many successful playoff appearances but no NBA championship titles, came to an end.[71] 2000–2003: Downfall The current Madison Square Garden has been the home of the Knicks since 1968. Despite the loss of Ewing, the Knicks remained successful in the regular season, as they posted a 48–34 record under the direction of Houston and Sprewell.[72] In the first round of playoff contention, however, New York fell to the Toronto Raptors in five games, failing to get past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.[73] After a poor start to the season, the Knicks managed to get above .500 with a 10–9 record.[74] In spite of their recent success, Van Gundy unexpectedly resigned[75] as head coach on December 8, 2001, explaining he had "lost focus" and would no longer be able to properly coach the team.[76] The team, which named longtime assistant Don Chaney as their new head coach, ended the season with a 30–52 record, and for the first time since the 1986–87 season they did not qualify for the playoffs.[29][74] In October 2002, the team elected to extend Chaney's contract for another year.[77] Rather than rebuilding, the Knicks opted to add veterans to the roster including Antonio McDyess who had been dealing with knee problems in the preceding years.[78][79] Furthermore, the Knicks were criticized by many analysts as multiple players on the roster were overpaid in light of their poor performances, causing salary cap problems that would persist until Donnie Walsh took over as team president.[78][80] McDyess injured his knee during the team's third preseason game and was subjected to further operations in April 2003 after a CT scan revealed the injured knee necessitated he undergo bone-graft surgery.[79] The Knicks managed only seven wins in their first twenty games, setting the tone for the rest of the season, which they completed with a 37–45 record; it was their second consecutive season without a playoff appearance.[81] 2003–2008: Isiah Thomas era Isiah Thomas as coach of the Knicks in 2007. He stayed six years on the bench After a 10–18 start to the 2003–04 season, the Knicks underwent a massive overhaul. Isiah Thomas was named the Knicks' president on December 22, 2003, upon the firing of Scott Layden.[82] Thomas continued to restructure the team, firing Chaney after an unproductive tenure and hiring Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens to coach the team.[83] Additionally, Thomas orchestrated multiple trades, including one that brought point guard Stephon Marbury to the team.[84] The team qualified for the playoffs that year with a 39–43 record, but were swept by the New Jersey Nets in the first round.[85] The series included a highly publicized spat between the Knicks' Tim Thomas and Nets' Kenyon Martin, in which Thomas all but challenged Martin to a fight and called him "Fugazy".[86] The following season, the Knicks struggled to a 17–22 record before Wilkens resigned as head coach.[87] Herb Williams, who had previously coached the team in a game against the Orlando Magic prior to the team hiring Wilkens, took over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season and did not fare much better as the Knicks ended their season with a 33–49 record and out of playoff contention.[85][87][88] Larry Brown succeeded Thomas, coaching the Knicks from 2005 to 2006 Hoping to find a leader that could put the team back on track, New York hired Larry Brown to coach the team.[89] Brown, who idolized the team during his childhood, was well regarded for his coaching abilities and his arrival brought a sense of hope to the franchise.[89] Hoping to find the next Patrick Ewing, the Knicks drafted center Channing Frye and signed centers Jerome James and Eddy Curry, the former prior to the season and the latter during the season.[90] Curry, who reportedly had a worrying heart condition, refused to take a controversial DNA test, and fell out of favor with John Paxson, Chicago's general manager.[91] The Bulls signed-and-traded him to the Knicks along with Antonio Davis for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, the Knicks' 2006 first-round pick, and the right to swap first-round picks with the Knicks in 2007, as well as 2007 and 2009 second-round picks.[91] Isiah Thomas did not lottery-protect the picks, and the Knicks forfeited the second pick in the 2006 draft, and the ninth in the 2007 draft. With a bloated payroll, the Knicks stumbled to the second worst record in the NBA that season, at 23–59.[92][93] The season concluded with the firing and $18.5 million buy-out of head coach Larry Brown after one season.[92][94] With the departure of Brown, team president Isiah Thomas took over the head coaching responsibilities.[92] Thomas continued his practice of signing players to high-priced contracts while the franchise struggled to capitalize on their talent on the court. As a testament to their struggles, on December 16, 2006, the Knicks and the Denver Nuggets broke into a brawl during their game in Madison Square Garden. With multiple players still serving a suspension as a result of the brawl, on December 20, 2006, David Lee created one of the most memorable plays in recent Knicks history, and served as a bright spot as the team's struggles persisted, during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats. With a tie game and 0.1 seconds left on the game clock in double overtime, Jamal Crawford inbounded from the sideline, near half-court. The ball sailed towards the basket, and with that 0.1 seconds still remaining on the game clock, Lee tipped the ball off of the backboard and into the hoop.[95] Because of the Trent Tucker Rule, a player is allowed solely to tip the ball to score when the ball is put back into play with three-tenths of a second or less remaining. Because of this rule, the rarity of Lee's play increases. The Knicks won, 111–109 in double overtime.[95] The Knicks improved by ten games in the 2006–2007 campaign in spite of injuries that ravaged the team at the end of the year; they ended with a 33–49 record, avoiding a 50-loss season by defeating the Charlotte Bobcats 94–93 on the last day of the season. During the 2007 off-season, the organization became embroiled in further controversy away from the basketball court. Anucha Browne Sanders, a former Knicks executive, had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden.[96] Faced with a trial, the jury returned a verdict finding Thomas and Madison Square Garden liable for sexual harassment.[97] The jury also levied $11.6 million in punitive damages against Madison Square Garden, though this was later reduced to $11.5 million in a settlement between both parties.[97] The ordeal proved embarrassing for the franchise, revealing sordid details about Knicks management and the environment at Madison Square Garden.[97] The Knicks struggled as they opened their 2007 campaign with a 2–9 record leaving many Knicks fans, frustrated with the franchise's lack of progress under Thomas, called for the coach's firing—the chant "Fire Isiah" became a common occurrence during the Knicks' home games.[98][99] On November 29, 2007, the Knicks were handed one of their worst defeats in their history by the Boston Celtics, with a final score of 104–59.[100] This matched their third-largest margin of defeat.[100] New York went on to post an eighth consecutive losing season and tied the franchise mark for their worst record ever, at 23–59.[29] 2008–2010: Rebuilding The Knicks in action at Madison Square Garden in the 2008–09 season. Mike D'Antoni, head coach of the Knicks from 2008 to 2012 MSG chairman James Dolan hired former Indiana Pacers President Donnie Walsh on April 2, 2008, to take over Isiah Thomas's role as team president.[101] At the introductory press conference, Walsh, while not proclaiming to be a savior, did set goals, which included getting the team under the salary cap and bringing back a competitive environment.[102] Upon the conclusion of the 2007–2008 regular season, Walsh fired Thomas, and on May 13, 2008, officially named former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni as head coach.[103][104] D'Antoni signed a four-year, $24 million deal to coach the team.[104] The Knicks, holding the sixth pick in the 2008 NBA draft, selected Danilo Gallinari on May 20, 2008.[105] On November 21, 2008, the Knicks dealt one of their top scorers, Jamal Crawford, to the Golden State Warriors for Al Harrington.[106] Hours later, New York traded Zach Randolph, along with Mardy Collins, to the Los Angeles Clippers for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, with the intention of freeing cap space for the 2010 off-season, when top-flight players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amar'e Stoudemire would be available.[106] In February 2009, the Knicks traded Tim Thomas, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson to the Chicago Bulls for Larry Hughes, in addition to sending Malik Rose to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Chris Wilcox.[107][108] Additionally, the long-standing controversy with Stephon Marbury ended when the two sides agreed to a buy-out of Marbury's contract, which allowed him to sign with the Celtics when he cleared waivers on February 27, 2009.[109] In spite of a volatile roster, the Knicks improved by nine wins from the previous season in D'Antoni's first season, to finish 32–50, coinciding with the emergence of forward-center David Lee, who led the league with 65 double-doubles, and the continued development of guard Nate Robinson and swingman Wilson Chandler.[110][111][112][113] In the 2009 NBA draft, the Knicks selected forward Jordan Hill eighth after targets such as Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn, and Ricky Rubio were off the board. Guard Toney Douglas was then selected with a 29th overall pick, which was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers.[114] Shortly afterwards, New York executed a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies in which the Knicks acquired Darko Miličić in exchange for Quentin Richardson.[114] The Knicks got off to their worst 10-game start in franchise history, producing nine losses, with just one win.[115] The Knicks responded by winning nine games and losing six in December.[116] On January 24, 2010, the Knicks suffered their worst home loss in Madison Square Garden history against the Dallas Mavericks in front of a sellout crowd. The 50-point loss was also the second-worst in Knicks franchise history.[117] On February 17, the Knicks shook up the roster, trading Miličić to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Brian Cardinal and cash considerations.[118] A day later, the Knicks and Celtics swapped guard Nate Robinson for shooting guard Eddie House. The deal also included forward Marcus Landry going to the Celtics and the Knicks acquiring bench players J. R. Giddens and Bill Walker.[119] The Knicks also acquired All-Star forward Tracy McGrady from the Houston Rockets and point guard Sergio Rodríguez from the Sacramento Kings in a three-way trade. The deal sent Knicks shooting guard Larry Hughes to Sacramento and forward Jordan Hill and power forward Jared Jeffries to Houston. The trades, orchestrated to give the Knicks more cap space for the summer of 2010, netted the Knicks $30 million of cap space.[120] About three weeks after these team-changing trades, the Knicks played the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center and blew them out by a score of 128–94 for their largest win of the season.[116][121] However, the Knicks were eliminated from playoff contention in late March 2010 and completed their season with a 29–53 record, a regression from their first season under D'Antoni.[116][122] 2010–2013: Arrival of Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire all featured in the starting lineup of the early 2010s Knicks The Knicks and former Phoenix Suns forward-center Amar'e Stoudemire came to an agreement on July 5, 2010.[123] The sign and trade deal was made official on July 8 as Stoudemire agreed to an approximately $100 million contract over the span of five years.[123] Team president Donnie Walsh stated the signing of Stoudemire as a turning point for the future of a Knicks team that had struggled in recent years.[124] The Knicks continued to redesign their roster, trading David Lee to the Golden State Warriors for Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and Ronny Turiaf.[125] The Knicks also struck deals with former Bobcats point guard Raymond Felton and Russian center Timofey Mozgov.[125] The Knicks regained their title as the most valuable franchise in the NBA following these acquisitions, though this was mainly due to the arrival of Stoudemire, whose star power allowed the team to resurge; the Knicks sold out their full-season ticket inventory for the first time since 2002.[126] D'Antoni along with Stoudemire and the core of young players, including Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Mozgov, Wilson Chandler and rookie Landry Fields, piloted the Knicks to a 28–26 record prior to the All-Star break, marking the first time the team had been above the .500 mark at that point of the season since 2000.[127] In spite of the team's mounting success,[128] New York made a push to acquire Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony. After months of speculation, on February 22, 2011, Anthony was traded to New York, with teammates Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and former Knicks player Renaldo Balkman. Denver acquired Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Mozgov, Kosta Koufos, a 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors' second-round draft picks for 2013 and 2014 and $3 million in cash. In addition, the Knicks sent Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to the Minnesota Timberwolves and in return the Timberwolves' Corey Brewer was sent to the Knicks.[129][130] The Knicks clinched their first playoff berth since the 2004 NBA Playoffs in a rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 3, 2011.[131] Carmelo Anthony ensured the franchise's first winning season since 2001 on April 10, 2011, against the Indiana Pacers, as Anthony scored the game-winning basket for the Knicks and subsequently blocked Danny Granger's shot in the final seconds of the game.[132] The Knicks were ultimately eliminated from contention in the first round on April 24, 2011, by the Boston Celtics, losing the series 0–4.[133] In spite of Donnie Walsh's successful efforts to help rebuild the franchise, he decided not to return as the team's president, electing to step down at the end of June 2011, citing the uncertainty surrounding his ability to continue to manage the daily operations of the team.[134] Glen Grunwald was elected as interim president and general manager.[134] Following the conclusion of the 2011 NBA lockout, the Knicks engaged in a sign-and-trade deal with the Mavericks for center Tyson Chandler on December 10, 2011, with Chandler signing a four-year contract worth approximately $58 million.[135] In return, the Knicks sent Andy Rautins to the Mavericks, generating a trade exception for Dallas. Ronny Turiaf and $3 million in cash considerations were sent to the Wizards to complete the three-way trade. The Knicks also obtained the draft rights to Ahmad Nivins and Georgios Printezis from Dallas. In order to fit Chandler under the salary cap, Chauncey Billups was earlier waived under the amnesty clause of the new collective bargaining agreement.[135] To replace Billups at point guard, the Knicks signed Mike Bibby to a one-year, veteran minimum contract.[136] The Knicks also signed veteran point guard Baron Davis on December 19 to a one-year contract. At the time, Davis had suffered a herniated disk and was not expected to compete for about 6–8 weeks, leaving Toney Douglas as the team's starting point guard.[137] The Knicks struggled early in the season because Douglas and Bibby struggled to facilitate the offense and subsequently, it became stagnated.[138] Subsequently, rookie Iman Shumpert was thrust into the role as the starting point guard after Douglas was relegated to the bench due to his struggles.[139] In addition, head coach D'Antoni also decided to use Carmelo Anthony as a point forward to help generate a more up-tempo offense; however, there were concerns Anthony was holding the ball for too long, thus contributing to the stagnation of the Knicks' offense.[140][141] "Linsanity" Jeremy Lin was a surprise player that came off the bench during the 2011–12 season. With the Knicks struggling to an 8–15 record, D'Antoni inserted third-string point guard Jeremy Lin into the rotation against the New Jersey Nets on February 4, 2012.[140] Lin, who had been claimed off waivers on December 27 following an injury to Iman Shumpert, scored 25 points and had seven assists en route to a Knicks win.[140][142] Lin was praised for his ability to facilitate the offense, something the Knicks had struggled to do for the first 23 games of the season.[140] Lin, exceeding expectations, was named the starter for the Knicks following a game against the Utah Jazz.[143] Lin guided the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak, despite being without Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire for five games due to a groin injury and a death in the family respectively, that brought the team back to a .500 winning percentage.[144][145][146] The surge of positive play by the Knicks accompanied by the performance of Lin caused extensive national and worldwide media coverage that was referred to as 'Linsanity'.[147] To bolster their depth and perimeter shooting percentage, the Knicks signed J. R. Smith on February 18, 2012.[148] The team struggled to congeal when Anthony returned from injury and went on to lose seven of eight games before head coach Mike D'Antoni resigned on March 14, 2012. Assistant Mike Woodson was named the interim head coach.[149] Under Mike Woodson Mike Woodson, head coach of the Knicks from 2012 to 2014 Under Woodson, the Knicks finished 18–6 during the regular season and clinched a playoff spot for the second straight year this time as the seventh seed, making it the first time they have clinched consecutive playoff berths since making 13 straight playoff appearances from 1988 to 2001.[29][150] Not only did they also clinch consecutive winning seasons for the first time in a decade, but their 36–30 record was the highest winning percentage for the team since the 2000–01 season.[29] The Knicks faced the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs and lost the first three games, breaking the NBA record for longest playoff losing streak at 13 games.[151] The team's struggles were partially attributed to injuries as Jeremy Lin, Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert were all sidelined by knee ailments.[152] The Knicks proceeded to win a close Game 4, which snapped their streak and ensured that they would not be swept out of the first round; however, they failed to keep up with the Heat's up-tempo offense in Game 5 and lost the series 4–1.[152] Despite the team's disappointing postseason exit, the Knicks removed Woodson's interim status and he was officially named the full-time head coach on May 25, 2012.[153] The Knicks began their off-season by selecting Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou in the 2012 NBA draft. One week later, the team came to terms with veteran point guard Jason Kidd, who was originally supposed to serve as a backup to Lin. The Knicks also re-acquired Marcus Camby from the Houston Rockets in a sign and trade sending Houston Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan, Toney Douglas and 2014 and 2015 two second-round picks and completed a sign-and-trade with the Portland Trail Blazers that brought back Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas in exchange for Jared Jeffries, Dan Gadzuric, and the draft rights to Papanikolaou and Greek forward Georgios Printezis, whose draft rights had been acquired by the Knicks in December 2011. The Knicks also re-signed free agents J. R. Smith and Steve Novak and added more players to the roster, such as James White, Chris Copeland, and Argentinian point guard Pablo Prigioni. However the Knicks lost restricted free agents shooting guard, Landry Fields to the Toronto Raptors and point guard, Jeremy Lin to the Houston Rockets, who were both key players during the 2011–12 season. The Knicks decided not to match those teams' offers. Despite these losses, the Knicks continued to add players to the roster, signing former Chicago Bulls guard Ronnie Brewer on July 25, 2012, and signing Chris Smith, the younger brother of J. R. Smith, on August 1, 2012.[154][155][156] It was also announced that Rasheed Wallace would come out of retirement to play for the Knicks on October 2, 2012. Despite playing without an injured Iman Shumpert and Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks compiled an 18–5 record to start the season, their best start since 1993. In their first four games, they scored at least 100 points and won by double digits in all of those games. The streak ended after a 10-point loss to Memphis Grizzlies. The following Sunday, in a game against the Indiana Pacers, the Knicks at home went on to win 88–76, assuring them a 7–1 record. After two tough losses to the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets, the Knicks returned home in a game against the Detroit Pistons on November 25, with a 121–100 blowout win, making them one of only three teams undefeated at home along with the Miami Heat and Utah Jazz. The Knicks finished November with an 11–4 record, their best month record since going 11–6 in March 2000.[157] By the All-Star break in mid-February 2013, the Knicks compiled a 32–18 record, good for second in the Eastern Conference. On February 21, on the trade deadline, the team traded Ronnie Brewer for a 2014 second-round draft pick. The Knicks then signed veteran power forward Kenyon Martin to a 10-day contract. In late March, the Knicks went on to compile a four-game losing streak, tying their worst skid of the season. They would go on and face the Jazz on the road, eventually winning the game and starting what would turn out to be a 13-game winning streak, including wins against the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder. This was the third-longest winning streak in franchise history. On April 9, the Knicks beat the Washington Wizards to secure the Atlantic Division title for the first time since the 1993–94 NBA season. The Knicks' 13-game winning streak came to an end on April 11 as they lost to the Chicago Bulls. Despite that, they set the NBA single-season record for three-pointers. On May 3, the Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs, 4–2, their first playoff victory since 2000. On May 18, the Knicks were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, losing the series to the Indiana Pacers 4–2. Point guard Jason Kidd retired following the end of the season—he was named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets a few days later. In the 2013 NBA draft, the Knicks selected Tim Hardaway Jr. as the 24th pick in the first round. During the 2013 off-season, The Knicks claimed Los Angeles Lakers F Metta World Peace off of waivers. They re-signed J. R. Smith to a 3-year, $18 million deal and traded Quentin Richardson, Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, and three draft picks to acquire Andrea Bargnani from the Toronto Raptors. 2013–2017: Phil Jackson era The Knicks also saw changes to business operations in late 2013, replacing general manager Glen Grunwald with former MSG president Steve Mills.[158] The Knicks also purchased an NBA D-League team located White Plains, which began operations at the start of the 2014–15 NBDL season.[159] The Knicks then appointed former coach Phil Jackson as president of basketball operations, with Mills remaining as general manager, with the duo working directly under MSG chairman James Dolan.[160] Following the 2013–14 season, coach Mike Woodson and his entire staff were fired,[161] and was replaced by Derek Fisher. Fisher played under Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five NBA championships with the franchise.[162] The Knicks finished the season with a disappointing 37–45 record and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, but was the season Carmelo Anthony established his career high, the Knicks' franchise record, and the Madison Square Garden record for single-game scoring. Anthony recorded 62 points and 13 rebounds in a victory against the Charlotte Bobcats.[163] The Knicks observed their worst-ever regular season record under the stewardship of Phil Jackson, who acted as the president of the franchise from 2013 to 2017. Forbes magazine released its franchise value rankings for NBA teams, and listed the Knicks as the world's most valuable basketball organization at $1.4 billion in 2014, edging out the Los Angeles Lakers by $50 million. The Knicks were valued at 40% more than the third-place Chicago Bulls valuation of $1 billion, and were valued nearly twice as highly as their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Nets, who came in at $780 million.[164] In the off-season, the Knicks traded controversial guard Raymond Felton, along with former NBA defensive player of the year, Tyson Chandler, to the Dallas Mavericks. In return, the Knicks received Shane Larkin, José Calderón, Samuel Dalembert, and Wayne Ellington along with two picks for the 2014 NBA draft. The trade was the first one that Jackson ever executed as a front office executive. On June 26, as part of the draft, the Knicks selected Cleanthony Early as the 34th overall pick, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo as the 51st overall pick, using the draft picks received in the trade from the Mavericks. The Knicks also acquired Louis Labeyrie, an additional second-round draft pick, in a trade with the Indiana Pacers for cash considerations. The Knicks would then go onto set a franchise record with its 13th consecutive loss, losing 101–91 to the Washington Wizards, giving New York its longest losing streak in the franchise's 69-season history.[165] This record was extended to 16th consecutive losses, after the NBA Global Games loss against the Milwaukee Bucks in London. The Knicks would finish the 2014–15 season with a win–loss record of 17–65, the worst record in franchise history, and allowed them to gain the 4th overall selection in the upcoming draft. The Knicks also bought out Amar'e Stoudemire's $100 million contract a season early. On June 24, 2015, the Knicks selected Kristaps Porziņģis with the fourth overall pick in the draft, and traded Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Jerian Grant, the 19th overall pick. Midway through another losing season, Fisher was relieved of his coaching duties, with Kurt Rambis being named as interim head coach as the Knicks finished the season with a record of 32–50.[166] Jeff Hornacek was then hired as their next head coach, which also oversaw Jackson's most notable acts as an executive. On June 22, former NBA MVP Derrick Rose was traded, along with Justin Holiday and a second-round pick from Chicago, to New York in exchange for Robin Lopez, José Calderón and Grant. The Knicks also signed Joakim Noah, Brandon Jennings, and Courtney Lee to contracts worth a combined $127 million, and regressed the following season, causing the franchise to part ways with Jackson after three years as the Knicks' president of basketball operations.[167] Under Jackson's presidency, the Knicks had gone 80–166, suffered three consecutive losing seasons, and missed three consecutive playoffs.[168] In his last act prior to leaving the Knicks, Jackson selected Frank Ntilikina with the eighth overall pick, Damyean Dotson with the 44th overall pick, and Ognjen Jaramaz with the 58th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. 2017–2020: Further struggles Following Jackson's departure, the Knicks appointed Scott Perry as general manager and named Steve Mills president of basketball operations.[169] The Knicks also saw Carmelo Anthony demanding a trade from the team, which posed difficulty for both player and franchise due to a no-trade clause inserted in Anthony's contract given by Jackson in 2013. Originally, the only teams for which he would waive his no-trade clause were for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets, with the former eventually removed from trade discussions due to internal conflicts. Anthony intended to join the Rockets, with a three-way trade with the Portland Trail Blazers set up involving Ryan Anderson. Anderson's three-year, $60 million contract was not feasibly able to be absorbed by either franchise, however, causing Perry to cease talks with the Rockets, before agreeing to a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, after Anthony agreed to expand his no-trade clause to include the Thunder.[170][171] The Knicks received Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick in exchange for Anthony on September 25, 2017,[172] while also positioning Kristaps Porziņģis as the new centerpiece of the franchise.[173] The Knicks also re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year, $71 million contract, while also agreeing to a one-year, minimum contract with Michael Beasley. The franchise also traded for former lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay from the Denver Nuggets at the trade deadline, who was a point guard the Knicks were rumored to have targeted prior to selecting Porziņģis in 2015.[174] The trade also included the Dallas Mavericks, with Dallas acquiring McDermott from the Knicks, and the Nuggets obtaining Devin Harris from Dallas.[175] However, the season again ended poorly, with 29–53 record to leave the Knicks as the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference. This caused the Knicks to part ways with head coach Jeff Hornacek.[176] Hornacek's two full seasons retained criticism for the team's continued struggle on defense, as well as the inability to implement an efficient, modern offense.[177] He was replaced with former Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale.[178] Fizdale signed a four-year deal, and was tasked to deliver on player development and improving the team's basketball philosophy.[179] On May 15, 2018, the Knicks were awarded the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, and selected Kevin Knox from the Kentucky.[180] The team also acquired Mitchell Robinson with the 36th overall pick, and signed former lottery pick Mario Hezonja. They further invested in untapped potential by signing another former lottery pick, with Noah Vonleh agreeing to a one-year deal.[181] However, following a dismal start to the season, and after a meeting with Porziņģis gave team officials the impression that he wanted to be traded,[182] Porziņģis was traded on January 30, 2019, alongside Trey Burke, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr., to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr., an unprotected 2021 first-round draft pick, and an additional top-ten protected 2023 first-round draft pick.[183] The Knicks finished the 2018–19 season with a league worst 17–65 regular season record, but the season was notable for the emergence of undrafted rookie Allonzo Trier,[184] as well as for the progression of Dotson and Robinson.[185][186] The Knicks won the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and selected RJ Barrett from Duke. The team also traded for forward Iggy Brazdeikis, who was drafted in the second round from Michigan. In preparation for the 2019–20 season, and as a result of having a record $74 million in cap space following the Porziņģis trade,[187] the team divided it among five new signings. The Knicks agreed terms with veteran role players Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson, with forward Bobby Portis also signing. The team then signed former lottery picks Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle. On February 4, 2020, the Knicks fired Steve Mills after seven seasons as president with Scott Perry taking over on an interim basis.[188] 2020–present: Return to the playoffs 2019 third overall pick guard RJ Barrett, 2021 All-NBA Second Team forward and Most Improved Player Julius Randle, and Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau led the Knicks to a suprisingly successful 41-31 record in 2020-21 and their first playoff bearth in years. On March 2, 2020 Leon Rose was named president of the team.[189] On July 30, the Knicks announced that they hired Tom Thibodeau as their head coach.[190] Julius Randle had a breakout season and, on February 23, 2021, Randle was named as a reserve for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game.[191] On May 3, with a 118–104 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Knicks clinched their first winning season since the 2012–13 season.[192] On May 12, the Knicks clinched their first playoff appearance since 2013, ending their eight-year playoff drought.[193] At the end of the regular season, Randle was named NBA Most Improved Player,[194] while Thibodeau was named the NBA Coach of the Year, becoming the first Knicks head coach since Pat Riley in 1992–93 to receive the award.[195] The Knicks faced the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs as the fourth seed,[196] losing in five games.[197] Fan attendance in home games during the 2020–21 season was prohibited until February 23, 2021, per an executive order from Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo.[198] The Knicks reopened Madison Square Garden to spectators on February 23.[199] In the 2021 off-season, the Knicks retained much of their old talent, while bringing in former all-star guard Kemba Walker and forward Evan Fournier.[200] Additionally, after Randle's breakthrough season, the Knicks extended his contract for four years in August 2021.[201] Season-by-season record List of the last five seasons completed by the Knicks. For the full season-by-season history, see List of New York Knicks seasons. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage Season     GP     W     L     W–L%     Finish     Playoffs 2016–17     82     31     51     .378     3rd, Atlantic     Did not qualify 2017–18     82     29     53     .354     4th, Atlantic     Did not qualify 2018–19     82     17     65     .207     5th, Atlantic     Did not qualify 2019–20     66     21     45     .318     5th, Atlantic     Did not qualify 2020–21     72     41     31     .569     3rd, Atlantic     Lost in First Round, 1–4 (Hawks) Logos and uniforms 1946–1964: Father Knickerbocker era The first logo of the New York Knicks is of a character named "Father Knickerbocker" dribbling a basketball, in the iconic blue and orange colors. It was designed by New York World-Telegram cartoonist Willard Mullin.[3] From the beginning, the Knicks home uniforms are in white with blue and orange trim, while the away uniforms are in blue with orange and white trim. The first iterations contain monotone lettering in blue (home) and orange (away) lettering, with the addition of a checkerboard pattern during the mid-1950s. 1964–1992: The Classic roundball era The Knicks would introduce an iconic logo that would endure for the next three decades. Designed by Bud Freeman, the word 'Knicks' superimposed over a brown basketball is known as the 'Classic Roundball Logo', with minor changes throughout its lifespan such as maroon wordmark and orange basketball.[3] An alternate logo featuring the full team name inside an orange basketball was used during the late 1960s and into the 1970s. As the 1960s began, the Knicks updated their uniforms again. This time the lettering is in serifed fonts, and the blue lettering and numbers on the home uniforms are now trimmed in orange. The away uniforms maintained the orange lettering but added white trim; it later changed to white letters while adding white trim on the piping. Side stripes were also added to the uniform. The 'NY' monogram is on the left leg of the shorts. 1968–1979; 1983–1997: Championship era uniforms The Knicks unveiled a uniform that would stay for three decades. This uniform, with an arched 'NEW YORK' in serif lettering and in orange, would be the uniform worn during their 1970 and 1973 championship seasons; however, they were not introduced simultaneously. The home uniforms would debut in 1968, while the away uniforms debuted the following year. One noticeable feature was that the player's name was in a straight block arched lettering (which is also called the "vertical arch" style), which was meticulously designed by Gerry Cosby and his sporting goods company. The unusual arrangement on the player's name was later adopted by several Major League Baseball teams in the 1970s, and are currently used by the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. On the shorts, there was no logo placed during much of the 1970s, but during the 1978–79 season, the side stripes were eliminated and the interlocking 'NY' logo inside an apple was placed instead. When this uniform style was reinstated for the 1983–84 season, it now featured the player's number and the interlocking 'NY' logo, in addition to the return of the side stripes. The shorts number was eliminated in 1987, while variations of the 'Roundball Logo' replaced the 'NY' logo from 1991 to 1997. Since the 1991–92 season various outfitters such as Champion, Puma, Reebok, Adidas, and Nike have taken over uniform production from Cosby, with player names on the back reverted to a radial arch and added serifs. 1979–1983: Maroon era uniforms At the beginning of the 1980s, the Knicks radically changed their uniforms. Royal blue and orange were replaced by navy and maroon. During this period, the home uniforms featured the team name below the number, both in maroon with navy trim and in a stylized, free-flowing font. Navy away uniforms continue to feature the city name but below the white and maroon number. The interlocking 'NY' logo debuted on the shorts, with the addition of player numbers and side stripes during the 1981–82 season. The change to maroon and navy was initiated by then-team president E. Michael Burke, whose alma mater University of Pennsylvania wore those colors. The 'Knicks' script from the 'Maroon Era' uniforms was later reused in the uniforms of the Knicks' NBA Development League affiliate Westchester Knicks, with the same team name below the number format. 1992–2012: New look era Before the 1992–93 season, the Knicks updated their 'Roundball Logo' to its present form, with the word 'Knicks' in a futuristic font, again superimposed over a basketball, with a silver triangle accentuating the look. The "New Look" logo was designed by Tom O'Grady.[3] For the 1995–96 season, the city name in a futuristic script was added atop the logo, while an alternate 'Subway Token' logo featuring the acronym 'NYK' was introduced. Black was also introduced as an accent color. The logo was added while the 'Championship Era' uniforms were still in use, but during the 1995–96 season, the Knicks unveiled a blue alternate uniform, this time featuring black side stripes and the aforementioned 'Subway Token' logo on the shorts' beltline. A home white version of this uniform was introduced for the 1997–98 season, effectively retiring the championship era uniforms. In the 2001–02 season, the side stripes were narrowed, while the 'Subway Token' logo was moved to the back of the uniform, and the Knicks primary logo moved from the side to the front of the shorts. 2012–present: Modern era The Knicks updated their "New Look Logo", this time eliminating the color black from the scheme. They still used the previous uniform during the 2011–12 season, but for the 2012–13 season, the Knicks unveiled new uniforms inspired from their 'Championship Era' uniforms. A more subtle and bolder 'New York' script was introduced, while the uniform piping stopped until the lettering. The phrase Once A Knick, Always A Knick is added on the uniform collar. Gray became the accent color. In addition, an updated version of their 1970s secondary logo, this time featuring only the team name, was introduced.[202] On October 25, 2013, the Knicks unveiled an alternate orange uniform, which is essentially a mirror image of the blue away uniforms, but with orange as the primary color and blue and white as trim colors.[203] The uniforms debuted on October 31 in a road game against the Chicago Bulls, and were used in the first five weekend home games, but after going 0–6 in the orange uniforms, they were discontinued permanently. Beginning with the 2017–18 season, Nike became the NBA's new uniform provider.[204][205] Under Nike, "home" and "away" uniform designations were eliminated, and in their place were the white "Association" set, primary color "Icon" set, alternate color "Statement" set, and annual "City" set that were used either at home or away.[206][207] The Knicks kept their white "Association" and blue "Icon" uniforms almost intact with only a few alterations such as truncated shoulder and shorts striping and the modern roundball logo on the waistband.[208] From 2017 to 2019, the Knicks' "Statement" uniform featured a white base with lettering in orange with white and blue trim. The striping was inspired from the team's 1970s-era uniforms.[209] In the 2019–20 season, the Knicks changed their Statement uniform to a blue base and white lettering with blue and orange trim. The white letters were a nod to the team's 1960s blue uniforms. As with the previous "Statement" uniform, the striping was based on the team's 1970s uniforms.[210] Special uniforms The Knicks have also worn special edition uniforms every March as part of the NBA's Noche Latina events and during St. Patrick's Day. The uniforms during Noche Latina were originally white with blue and orange trim, first using the 2001–12 uniform from 2008 to 2012, and then the current uniforms from 2012 to 2015, the only exception being Nueva York in front. In the 2015–16 season, the Knicks used a variation of their away blue uniform for Noche Latina. The Saint Patrick's Day uniforms used the road uniform template except for green substituting for the blue base. These uniforms have also been used on Christmas Day from the 2009–10 season, and was worn in particular by Nate Robinson for a "Kryptonate vs. Superman" theme against Dwight Howard in the 2009 Slam Dunk Contest. The St. Patrick's uniforms were shelved after the 2011–12 season. On Christmas Day 2012, the Knicks wore monochrome uniforms known as 'Big Color'. The uniforms are mostly orange, with blue trimming. The following year, the Knicks wore sleeved orange uniforms known as 'Big Logo', featuring a chrome-treated Knicks logo in front. For the 2014 edition, the Knicks wore a variation of their home uniforms, featuring the team logo in front and the player's first name in a blue nameplate below the number. The 2016 Christmas Day game against the Celtics saw the Knicks wear an all-blue uniform without additional striping, complete with fancy scripted orange lettering and numbers. As part of its deal with Nike, a special "City" uniform would be used to pay tribute to either local culture or team traditions. The Knicks' 2017–18 "City" uniform, which is navy with orange and grey trim and features an emblem containing the team name, uniform number, a ladder with a silhouette of a firefighter, a fire hydrant, and the abbreviation "N.Y.C." for New York City, pays homage to the city's firefighters and their families. It was designed in collaboration with the Knicks, the NBA, Nike and the Uniformed Firefighters Association.[211] The Knicks' second "City" uniform is also in navy and features white lettering, a straight aligned "New York" wordmark in front and alternating stripes of blue, navy and orange designed to mimic the New York City skyline. The blue and orange arm striping was inspired from the team's 1950s uniforms. The Knicks initially debuted the uniform in the 2018–19 season, and was retained the following season.[212] The Knicks' 2020–21 "City" uniform is designed in collaboration with Kith. The uniform is predominantly black with blue and orange side gradients. The roundel in front features both the full team name and the "city never sleeps" nickname in a white, blue and orange gradient, and white numbers with blue drop shadows are added inside. The "NYC" acronym in black and white trim is placed within the Nike mark.[213] The Knicks' 2021–22 "City" uniform featured another collaboration with Kith. The predominantly black uniform featured the classic "New York" wordmark in white with orange trim, and orange numbers with white trim. Those elements, along with the 1992 "New Look" logo on the waist, paid tribute to the 1995–2001 blue uniforms. Along the side, black and gray checkerboard stripes were an homage to the 1950s set. A silhouette of the classic Madison Square Garden logo was added to the side stripes on the shorts.[214] Throwback uniforms The Knicks were one of several NBA teams to wear throwback uniforms during the league's 50th anniversary in the 1996–97 season. The throwback set they wore that season represented the franchise's first season in 1946–47. However, both the blue and white throwbacks featured blue letters with orange trim (the originals had only orange letters on the blue uniform and blue letters on the white uniform minus any additional trim). In the 2004–05 season, the Knicks wore throwback white uniforms from the "maroon era" of the early 1980s. The only difference from the originals was that the letters on the player's name were arranged in a radial arch (the originals were designed in a vertical arch) and were smaller in size. The following season, the Knicks wore throwback blue checkerboard uniforms from the mid-1950s, which featured the "Father Knickerbocker" logo on the left leg (the originals did not feature said logo). For the 2007–08 season, the Knicks wore their classic white uniforms as a tribute to the early 1970s championship teams. As with the "maroon era" throwbacks, the player's name no longer appeared in a vertical arch and were smaller in size. In addition, the original "roundball" logo was added (the original uniforms had no logo on the shorts). The 2010–11 season saw the Knicks wear the blue uniforms to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1969–70 championship team. However, the design they wore that season faithfully replicated those of the 1991–92 Knicks team, complete with radially-arched serifed block letters on the player's name and the "roundball" logo on the shorts. In the original version, the shorts had no logo while the player name is arranged in a vertical arch and in a sans-serif block font. In the 2015–16 season, the Knicks wore throwback white versions of the mid-1950s checkerboard uniforms in commemoration of the franchise's 70th season. In the 2021–22 season, the Knicks, along with the Celtics and Warriors, were one of three teams to wear a "Classic Edition" uniform to commemorate each franchise and the NBA's 75th anniversary. The Knicks design harkened back to the original white uniforms from 1946, complete with enlarged blue numbers, blue waistbands, and blue and orange side stripes." (wikipedia.org) "Panini is an Italian company headquartered in Modena, Italy, named after the Panini brothers who founded it in 1961.[1] The company produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items through its collectibles and publishing subsidiaries.[2][3] Panini distributes its own products, and products of third party providers.[4] Panini maintains a Licensing Division to buy and resell licences and provide agency for individuals and newspapers seeking to purchase rights and comic licences.[5] Through Panini Digital the company uses voice-activated software to capture football statistics, which is then sold to agents, teams, media outlets and video game manufactures.[6] New Media operates Panini's on-line applications, and generates income through content and data sales.[7] Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first FIFA World Cup sticker album for the 1970 World Cup.[8][9] Since then, collecting and trading stickers and cards has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation.[10] In 2017, a 1970 World Cup Panini sticker album signed by Pelé sold for a record £10,450.[11][12] Up until 2015, Panini produced stickers and trading cards for the UEFA Champions League. As of 2019, Panini had license rights of football international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and Copa América, as well as domestic leagues including the Premier League (from the 2019–20 season),[13] Spanish La Liga,[14] Italian Serie A,[15] and Argentine Primera División[16] among others. ... istory Benito and Giuseppe Panini were operating a newspaper distribution office in Modena, Italy in 1960, when they found a collection of figurines (stickers attached with glue) that a Milan company was unable to sell. The brothers bought the collection, and sold them in packets of two for ten lire each. They sold three million packets. Having had success with the figurines Giuseppe founded Panini in 1961 to manufacture and sell his own figurines. Benito joined Panini the same year. Panini sold 15 million packets of figurines in 1961.[17][18][19] 29 million units were sold the following year, and brothers Franco and Umberto Panini joined the company in 1963.[17] Umberto Panini died on 29 November 2013 at the age of 83.[20] Panini Group start sponsor Modena Volley 1968–1989. The company became well known in the 1960s for its football collections, which soon became popular with children. Rare stickers (figurine) can reach very high prices on the collectors' market. Some popular games were invented which used stickers as playing cards. In 1970 Panini began publishing L'Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio Italiano (The Illustrated Guide to Italian Football), after purchasing the rights from publishing house Carcano. Panini also published its first FIFA World Cup trading cards and sticker album for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, in addition to using multilingual captions and selling stickers outside of Italy for the first time.[8] Initiating a craze for collecting and trading stickers, Panini's stickers were an instant hit, with The Guardian stating in the UK “the tradition of swapping duplicate [World Cup] stickers was a playground fixture during the 1970s and 1980s.”[10][21] Another first for Panini, in the early 1970s, was introducing self-adhesive stickers; as opposed to using glue.[17] In 1986 Panini created a museum of figurines which they donated to the city of Modena in 1992.[22][23] Panini begins assembling each World Cup squad for their sticker album a few months before they are officially announced by each nation, which means surprise call ups often do not feature in their album. A notable example of this was 17-year-old Brazilian striker Ronaldo who was called up for the Brazil squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[24] In May 2006, Panini partnered with The Coca-Cola Company and Tokenzone to produce the first virtual sticker album for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The album was viewable in at least 10 different languages, such as Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.[25] For the 2014 World Cup, three million FIFA.com users took part in the Panini Digital Sticker Album contest.[26] Panini developed an app for the 2018 World Cup where fans could collect and swap virtual stickers.[27] Five million people gathered digital stickers for the 2018 World Cup.[28] Sticker trade in Brazil for Panini's 2018 World Cup sticker album The classic football stickers today are complemented by the collectible card game Adrenalyn XL, introduced in 2009. In 2010 Panini released a UEFA Champions League edition of Adrenalyn XL, containing 350 cards from 22 of the competing clubs, including defending champions FC Barcelona. Beginning in 2015, Topps signed a deal to produce stickers, trading cards and digital collections for the competition.[29] The fourth edition of Panini FIFA 365 Adrenalyn XL was released for 2019, featuring top clubs, teams and players.[30] In January 2009, Panini acquired an exclusive licence to produce NBA trading cards and stickers effective with the 2009-10 NBA season.[31] On 13 March 2009, Panini acquired the US trading card manufacturer Donruss Playoff LP. With it, Panini inherited Donruss' NFL and NFLPA licences.[32] In March 2010, Panini acquired a licence from the NHL and NHLPA.[33] The 2010-11 ice hockey season was the first in five years that more than one company, with Upper Deck producing their own NHL cards.[34] In July 2010, Panini acquired a licence to create an official sticker collection for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London 2012.[35] In 2014, Panini made cards for that year's FIFA World Cup, and did the same for the 2018 edition, albeit with price hikes for packets across the world. Dubbed the “Panini Cheapskates”, in 2018 a UK couple won fans all over the world by filling in their 2018 World Cup sticker album by drawing in each player.[36] Panini (Along With Bandai) were distributors of the 2012 English dub of the 2011 Spanish television series Jelly Jamm. During the 2018 World Cup, Panini produced an average of 8 and 10 million card packages per day.[37] In 2018, Panini signed a deal with the English Premier League to produce cards under license from the 2019–20 season.[13] Some of Panini's releases in 2019 include collections of movies Avengers: Endgame[38] and Toy Story 4.[39] and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.[40] Panini America Superstars Kobe Bryant (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo signed exclusive deals with Panini in 2009 and 2015, respectively In January 2009, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced Panini would become the exclusive trading card partner of the league beginning with the 2009–10 season.[41] In March of the same year, The Panini Group purchased assets of the industry's second-oldest trading-card company, Donruss, and formed the new subsidiary, "Panini America". The company continued to operate out of Irving, Texas, with much of the existing upper management.[42] Panini signed an exclusive agreement with five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers as its official company spokesman and global trading card ambassador in 2009. Bryant's special affiliation to Panini goes back to his time growing up in Italy where he collected Italian football stickers.[21][41] In March 2010, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League (NHL) granted the Panini Group a multi-year trading card license, marking the third major sports license that The Panini Group had secured since establishing a presence in the U.S. in 2009. According to the Panini Group, the 2010 FIFA World Cup sticker album sold 10 million packs in the U.S. alone.[21] In 2016, Panini America paid Cristiano Ronaldo $170,000 for signing 1,000 Panini stickers, while Neymar received $50,000 for signing 600.[43] This subsidiary holds official licenses for NBA, NFL, WWE, FIFA, The Collegiate Licensing Company, Disney, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Panini also has exclusive partnerships with Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Pro Football Hall of Fame. In January 2021, Panini America signed an exclusive multi-year trading card deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).[44] Later in August 2021, Panini America also partnered with the UFC to release NFTs, commemorating big fights, milestones and moments.[45] Panini family philanthropy Giuseppe Panini, the eldest brother and the founder of this business, and a collector himself, financed the creation of the Raccolte Fotografiche Modenesi (Modena's photographic collections), an archive of more than 300,000 photographs and a similar number of postcards, describing the life of the city and the evolution of photographic art." (wikipedia.org) "A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other text (attacks, statistics, or trivia).[1] There is a wide variation of different types of cards. Trading cards are traditionally associated with sports (baseball cards are particularly common) but can also include subjects such as Pokémon and other non-sports trading cards. These often feature cartoons, comic book characters, television series and film stills. In the 1990s, cards designed specifically for playing games became popular enough to develop into a distinct category, collectible card games. These games are mostly fantasy-based gameplay. Fantasy art cards are a subgenre of trading cards that focus on the artwork. ... History Origins Main articles: Trade card and Cigarette card Trade cards are the ancestors of trading cards. Some of the earliest prizes found in retail products were cigarette cards—trade cards advertising the product (not to be confused with trading cards) that were inserted into paper packs of cigarettes as stiffeners to protect the contents.[2] Allen and Ginter in the U.S. in 1886, and British company W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1888, were the first tobacco companies to print advertisements.[3] A couple years later, lithograph pictures on the cards with an encyclopedic variety of topics from nature to war to sports — subjects that appealed to men who smoked - began to surface as well.[4] By 1900, there were thousands of tobacco card sets manufactured by 300 different companies. Children would stand outside of stores to ask customers who bought cigarettes for the promotional cards.[5] Following the success of cigarette cards, trade cards were produced by manufacturers of other products and included in the product or handed to the customer by the store clerk at the time of purchase.[4] World War II put an end to cigarette card production due to limited paper resources, and after the war cigarette cards never really made a comeback. After that collectors of prizes from retail products took to collecting tea cards in the UK and bubble gum cards in the US.[6] Early baseball cards Main article: Baseball card Adrian C. Anson depicted on an Allen & Ginter cigarette card, c. 1887 The first baseball cards were trade cards printed in the late 1860s by a sporting goods company, around the time baseball became a professional sport.[7] Most of the baseball cards around the beginning of the 20th century came in candy and tobacco products. It was during this era that the most valuable baseball card ever printed was produced - the T206 tobacco card featuring Honus Wagner.[8] The T206 Set, distributed by the American Tobacco Company in 1909, is considered by collectors to be the most popular set of all time.[9] In 1933, Goudey Gum Company of Boston issued baseball cards with players biographies on the backs and was the first to put baseball cards in bubble gum.[10] The 1933 Goudey set remains one of the most popular and affordable vintage sets to this day.[11] Bowman Gum of Philadelphia issued its first baseball cards in 1948. Modern trading cards Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., now known as "The Topps Company, Inc.", started inserting trading cards into bubble gum packs in 1950 with such topics as TV and film cowboy Hopalong Cassidy; "Bring 'Em Back Alive" cards featuring Frank Buck on big game hunts in Africa; and All-American Football Cards. Topps produced its first baseball trading card set in 1951, with the resulting design resembling that of playing cards.[12] Topps owner and founder Sy Berger created the first true modern baseball card set, complete with playing record and statistics, the following year in the form of 1952 Topps Baseball.[13] This is one of the most popular sets of all time; its most valued piece was 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311, which is sometimes erroneously referred to as Mantle's rookie card, though he had in fact appeared in the 1951 Bowman Baseball set.[14] Topps purchased their chief competitor, Bowman Gum, in 1956.[15] Topps was the leader in the trading card industry from 1956 to 1980, not only in sports cards but in entertainment cards as well. Many of the top selling non-sports cards were produced by Topps, including Wacky Packages (1967, 1973–1977), Star Wars (beginning in 1977)[16] and Garbage Pail Kids (beginning in 1985).[17] In 1991 Topps ceased packaging gum with their baseball cards, making many collectors happy that their cards could no longer be damaged by gum stains[18] The following year, in 1992, Topps ceased using heavily waxed paper to wrap their packs of cards and began using cellophane plastic exclusively, thus eliminating the possibility of wax stains on the top and bottom cards in the packs.[19] Digital trading cards In an attempt to stay current with technology and digital trends, existing and new trading card companies started to create digital trading cards that lived exclusively online or as a digital counterpart of a physical card. In 1995 Michael A. Pace produced "computer based" trading cards, utilizing a CD ROM computer system and floppy discs.[20] In 2000, Topps launched a brand of sports cards, called etopps. These cards were sold exclusively online through individual IPO's (initial player offering) in which the card is offered for usually a week at the IPO price. That same year, Tokenzone launched a digital collectibles platform that was used by media companies to distribute content in the form of digital trading cards. The quantity sold depended on how many people offered to buy but was limited to a certain maximum. After a sale, the cards were held in a climate-controlled warehouse unless the buyer requests delivery, and the cards could be traded online without changing hands except in the virtual sense. In January 2012, Topps announced that they would be discontinuing their eTopps product line.[21] Digital collectible card games were estimated to be a $1.3B market in 2013.[22] A number of tech start-ups have attempted to establish themselves in this space, notably Stampii (Spain, 2009),[23][24] Fantom (Ireland, 2011), Deckdaq (Israel, 2011), and 2Stic (Austria, 2013). Panini launched their Adrenalyn XL platform with an NBA and NFL trading card collection. Connect2Media together with Winning Moves, created an iPhone Application to host a series of trading card collections, including Dinosaurs, James Bond - 007, Celebs, Gum Ball 3000, European Football Stars and NBA. In 2011, mytcg Technologies launched a platform that enabled content holders to host their content on. On July 1, 2011, Wildcat Intellectual Property Holdings filed a lawsuit against 12 defendants, including Topps, Panini, Sony, Electronic Arts, Konami, Pokémon, Zynga and Nintendo, for allegedly infringing Wildcat's "Electronic Trading Card" patent.[25] In 2012, Topps also launched their first phone application. Topps Bunt was an app that allowed users to connect with other fans in a fantasy league type game environment wherein they can collect their favorite players, earn points based on how well they play and trade and compete with other fans. Three years later, the same company launched a digital experiment in Europe (geotargeted to exclude the USA) with its Marvel Hero Attax, using digital as an overlay to its physical product.[26] Value Today, the development of the Internet has given rise to various online communities, through which members can trade collectible cards with each other. Cards are often bought and sold via eBay and other online retail sources. Many websites solicit their own "sell to us" page in hopes to draw in more purchase opportunities.[27] The value of a trading card depends on a combination of the card's condition, the subject's popularity and the scarcity of the card. In some cases, especially with older cards that preceded the advent of card collecting as a widespread hobby, they have become collectors' items of considerable value. In recent years, many sports cards have not necessarily appreciated as much in value due to overproduction, although some manufacturers have used limited editions and smaller print runs to boost value. Trading cards, however, do not have an absolute monetary value. Cards are only worth as much as a collector is willing to pay.[28] Condition Card condition is one aspect of trading cards that determine the value of a card. There are four areas of interest in determining a card's condition. Centering, corners, edges and surface are taken into consideration, for imperfections, such as color spots and blurred images, and wear, such as creases, scratches and tears, when determining a trading card's value.[29] Cards are considered poor to pristine based on their condition, or in some cases rated 1 through 10.[30] A card in pristine condition, for example, will generally be valued higher than a card in poor condition.... Sports cards Sports card is a generic term for a trading card with a sports-related subject, as opposed to non-sports trading cards that deal with other topics. Sports cards were among the earliest forms of collectibles. They typically consist of a picture of a player on one side, with statistics or other information on the reverse. Cards have been produced featuring most major sports, especially those played in North America, including, but not limited to, American football, association football (soccer), baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, ice hockey, racing and tennis. The first set with a sporting theme appeared in 1896, a cricket series by W.D. & H.O. Wills of 50 cricketers. The tobacco companies soon realised that sports cards were a great way to obtain brand loyalty. In 1896 the first association football set, "Footballers & Club Colours", was published by Marcus & Company, a small firm in Manchester. Other football sets issued at that time were "Footballers & Club Colours" (Kinner, 1898); "Footballers" (J. F. Bell, 1902); "Footballers" (F. J. Smith, 1902) and "Footballers" (Percy E. Cadle, 1904).[34] The first stage in the development of sports cards, during the second half of the 19th century, is essentially the story of baseball cards, since baseball was the first sport to become widely professionalized. Hockey cards also began to appear early in the 20th century. Cards from this period are commonly known as cigarette cards or tobacco cards, because many were produced by tobacco companies and inserted into cigarette packages, to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. The most expensive card in the hobby is a cigarette card of Honus Wagner in a set called 1909 T-206. The story told is that Wagner was against his cards being inserted into something that children would collect. So the production of his cards stopped abruptly. It is assumed that less than 100 of his cards exist in this set. The 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner card has sold for as much as $2.8 million.[35] Sets of cards are issued with each season for major professional sports. Since companies typically must pay players for the right to use their images, the vast majority of sports cards feature professional athletes. Amateurs appear only rarely, usually on cards produced or authorized by the institution they compete for, such as a college. Many older sports cards (pre-1980) command a high price today; this is because they are hard to find, especially in good quality condition. This happened because many children used to place their cards in bicycle spokes, where the cards were easily damaged. Rookie cards of Hall of Fame sports stars can command thousands of dollars if they have been relatively well-preserved. In the 1980s, sports cards started to get produced in higher numbers, and collectors started to keep their cards in better condition as they became increasingly aware of their potential investment value. This trend continued well into the 1990s. This practice caused many of the cards manufactured during this era to stay low in value, due to their high numbers. The proliferation of cards saturated the market, and by the late 1990s, card companies began to produce scarcer versions of cards to keep many collectors interested. The latest trends in the hobby have been "game used memorabilia" cards, which usually feature a piece of a player's jersey worn in a real professional game; other memorabilia cards include pieces of bats, balls, hats, helmets, and floors. Authenticated autographs are also popular, as are "serially numbered" cards, which are produced in much smaller amounts than regular "base set cards". Autographs obtained by card manufacturers have become the most collected baseball cards in the hobby's history. This started in 1990 in baseball when Upper Deck randomly inserted autographs of Reggie Jackson into boxes. They are commonly referred to as "Certified Autographed Inserts" or "CAI's". Both the athlete's and card company's reputations are on the line if they do not personally sign these cards. This has created the most authentic autographs in existence.[citation needed] These cards all have some form of printed statements that the autographs are authentic, this way, no matter who owns the autograph there is no question of its authenticity. CAI's have branched out into autographs of famous actors, musicians, Presidents, and even Albert Einstein. Mostly these autographs are cut from flat items such as postcards, index cards, and plain paper. Then they are pasted onto cards. In 2001, a company called Playoff started obtaining autographs on stickers that are stuck on the cards instead of them actually signing the cards. There is strong opposition against these types of autographs because the players never even saw the cards that the stickers were affixed to.[citation needed] The competition among card companies to produce quality sports cards has been fierce. In 2005, the long-standing sports card producer Fleer went bankrupt and was bought out by Upper Deck. Not long after that, Donruss lost its MLB license. Currently, Topps is the official baseball card of the MLB." (wikipedia.org) "A basketball card is a type of trading card relating to basketball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic.[1] These cards feature one or more players of the National Basketball Association, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Olympic basketball, Women's National Basketball Association, Women's Professional Basketball League, or some other basketball related theme. Some notable producing companies include Panini Group (present days), Bowman Gum and Topps (in early days).... History The first basketball cards were produced in 1910, in a series cataloged as "College Athlete Felts B-33". The complete series included ten different sports, with only 30-cards being associated with basketball. The cards were issued as a cigarette redemption premium by The number of packages needed to redeem for the tobacco cards is not known. The next series of basketball cards were issued in 1911, in two separate series, "T6 College Series", measuring approximately 6" by 8", and "T51 College Series", measuring approximately 2" by 3". These series included a variety of sports, with only 6-cards being associated with basketball. One card from the T6 series, and five cards from the T51 series. Both series were produced in two variations; one variation reading "College Series", the other, "2nd Series". The cards were acquired in trade for fifteen Murad cigarette coupons. The offer expired June 30, 1911. Basketball cards were not seen again until 1932, when C.A. Briggs Chocolate issued a 31-card set containing multiple sports. In exchange for a completed set of cards, Briggs offered baseball equipment.[4] The number of basketball cards in the set is not known. Bowman Gum produced the first NBA cards, starting in 1948, releasing a 72-piece set that included the George Mikan rookie card.[5][6] Another US company, Topps, began to manufacture cards during the 1958, returning to production in 1969–70.[2] Fleer had its peak in 1961-62, returning in 1986–87,[2] to resurrect the basketball card industry by releasing its set which included the rookie cards of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. This set is seen by many basketball card collectors as the "1952 Topps of basketball." In the 1990s/2000s, several companies produced basketball cards, including Topps, Fleer, and Upper Deck. In 2009, the NBA licensed the rights to manufacture and commercialize basketball cards to Italian Panini Group, which became the only licensor for the league and players. Panini has been NBA licensee since then." (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: Ungraded
  • Player: Kristaps Porzingis
  • League: NBA
  • Autographed: Yes
  • Set: 2015-16 Panini NBA Hoops
  • Autograph Format: Sticker or Label
  • Catalog #: No. HS-KP
  • Product: Single
  • Player/Athlete: Kristaps Porzingis
  • Card Attributes: Autograph, Refractor, Rookie
  • Series: 2015-16 Panini - Hoops Basketball
  • Sport: Basketball
  • Type: Sports Trading Card
  • Year: 2015
  • Parallel/Variety: Refractor
  • Original/Reprint: Original
  • Manufacturer: Panini
  • Team: New York Knicks
  • Features: Insert, Rookie, Autographed, Signed, Refractor
  • Season: 2015-16
  • Card Manufacturer: Panini

PicClick Insights - KRISTAPS PORZINGIS HOT SIGNATURES AUTO ROOKIE REFRACTOR rc nba hoops HS-KP 2015 PicClick Exclusive

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