The New York Knicks are part of the 11 original teams that founded the NBA in 1946 and has since become one of the league's most popular and storied franchises. They reached the NBA Finals eight times and won two championships in 1970 and 1973. This success was mainly credited to the players they selected through the draft who bolstered their NBA championship odds.
Among the notable players they picked were Mark Jackson, Richie Guerin, Charlie Ward, David Lee, Kristaps Porzingis, and RJ Barrett. Despite the significant contributions of these names, as mentioned above, they were still not among the three greatest New York Knicks draft picks. Find out the three players below.
Willis Reed
Willis Reed was a second-round draft pick by New York in 1964, but he provided a double-double average in his rookie season with 19.5 points and 14.7 rebounds and won the Rookie of the Year award. Because of this consistent output, the 6-foot-9 center out of Grambling led the Knicks to eight playoff campaigns, including three trips to the NBA Finals.
RIP Knicks legend Willis Reed!