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Not quite what this book's name indicates, this is a book about a basketball team: the New York Knicks of the 1990s.
Throughout the 1990s, New Yorkers had a club it was madly in love with—one that earned respect not only by winning, but through brute force. The Knicks were always looking for fights, often at the encouragement of Pat Riley. They fought opposing players. They fought each other. Hell, they even occasionally fought their own coaches.
The NBA didn’t take kindly to their fighting spirit. Within two years, league officials moved to alter several rules to stop New York from turning its basketball games into bloody mudwrestling matches. Nevertheless, as the 1990s progressed, the Knicks endeared themselves to millions of fans; not for how much they won, but for their colorful cast of characters and their hardworking mentality.
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In the summer of 1991, Patrick Ewing was frustrated.
How could he not be? He was a good player on a bad team. In fact, the team only won 39 games in the regular season the year before. To put that into perspective, each team plays 82 games in the regular season. The NBA is divided into the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, and the 8 teams that had the most wins in their respective conference move on to the playoffs. The playoffs is essentially an elimination tournament. You have to win four games against your opponent first to move on.
Back to Patrick Ewing, his team had missed the playoffs completely, and he was looking to leave the team.
Until they hired an experienced coach Pat Riley. During his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, they had won 4 championships, and Riley became associated with the Lakers' finesse. But now all of it was going to change, because he was going to transform the Knicks into a physically oppressing and mentally gritty team.
When the season started though, things didn't look promising, as they started with a 1 win - 4 losses record (shortened to 1-4). However, as team chemistry started to improve, they would finish with 51 wins, a stark improvement from last year. In the second round, they gave Michael Jordan and the Bulls a tough time, but their loss was inevitable. The Bulls were just too good. Maybe next year.
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The next year, the Knicks made some trade to improve their scoring, a big problem for a team that was now hoping to contend for a championship. However, they continued their brusing traditions, evident in their league highest 97 technichal fouls. When the regular season ended, they had the eastern conference best record of 60 wins. Could they win it all this year?
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The answer was no. The Bulls would get in their way once again, ending their hopes of a championship. Were they really never going to win a championship?
In the summer of 1993, Michael Jordan decided to retire. This suddenly opened a gap in the NBA, turnning it back into a free-for-all, and the Knicks were undoubtly the most excited. This could be their year.
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Then came 1994. The Knicks once again finished top in the east. However, their journey in the playoffs was once again (for the fourth time now), troubled by the Bulls. When everybody thought the Bulls were going to fade into mediocrity without Jordan, they somehow still were a top 3 team in the east, leaded by Scottie Pippen. In fact, the Bulls took them to 7 games. But the Bulls could not win the superior Knicks, and the Knicks would move on to the conference finals.
However, the Pacers were no easy opponent. The Knicks were once again pushed to their limits. But after a dominating performance from Patrick Ewing: 24 points, 22 rebounds and 7 assists, they were on their first trip to the finals.
In the finals, they would take a 3-2 lead against the Rockets, but they blew game 6 and now had to play game 7. In game 7, John Starks had such a bad game that he buried his own team, the Knicks. They could only watch as the Houston Rockets lifted the championship trophy.
Alright, that'll do it for my book recommendation. I've only told half of the story, and more exciting stories are yet to come! If you want to find out, then read the book!