when and why did you become a knicks fan?

[Deeeez Knicks]

Born and raised in NY and my bro was a huge Knick fan. Started watching games with him in the mid 80's. Really started following in the late 80's/early 90's with the bomb squad and used to copy cat Rod Strickland and Mark Jacksons moves since i was a pg. I used to like Trent Tucker. I actually called his 4-point play against the Bulls in that playoff game, but they ended up losing anyway. Man, I hate the Bulls....

[boomann21]

I was a youngin and the mighty Pistons were on the demise and then the Knicks started wrecking. So I became a fan right around here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BKx2HN8Ms

Xavier McDaniel: "This is a man's game." It was almost like he had me at hello.

[manute_bol112]

1999 i was a little kid who became drawn to the high energy play of Sprewell. The playoff run was even more amazing. I remember watching the games in the same bar every game with my Dad and Uncle and other Knicks fans. I remember after Larry Johnson's 3 pointer with the foul call resulted in a bunch of drunk guys slapping my hand so hard i fell right on my ass. Haha it was good times and a run like that makes you a fan for life.

[joen212]

well i started to watch basketball in 1992 nobody got me into it i just picked a sport and went with basketball, jordan and the bulls were so hyped that i rooted 4 the bulls, that is until i saw the first game they played the knicks at the garden, i instantly became a knicks fan. watching the heart that team played with really got to me that and i thought 2 myself damn im a new yorker gotta root 4 the knicks. now i hate the bulls and im training my 2 year old son to be a diehard knicks fan.

[bigballin05]

When I was really young, around 4-6 in the early 90s, I was a Bulls fan. However, my Dad was a Knicks fan, so at some point during the early 90s I switched. I already rooted for all of his teams (Yanks and Giants) so I just wanted to be on the same team as him.

Grew up in NJ, but like a previous user said, MSG was on regular cable whereas the station the Nets played on was an extra pay channel.

Also, this is my first post. Been coming here since the draft, but thought this was an appropriate thread to make my introduction.

[Starks]

Obviously as a french kid I could not have been a Knicks fan since my birth, as basketball was far from being a part of our family's culture. Matter of fact, NBA basketball was not known in France and I don't really know why and how, but my older brother happened to be an NBA fan when I was 6 or 7. That's when I became a rare NBA fan, and I remember that my favorite player at first was Zo because I discovered basketball through him (I remember buying my very first magazine with an article on Zo, freshly drafted by the Hornets, and I just LOVED the Charlotte colors LOL. That's why I've always liked the guy). At that time I was a child and there wasn't many NBA games on TV in France, so I didn't really know the Knicks. Well I knew they existed, but that was it. I managed to watch the 94 Finals and I was even kinda rooting for the Rockets because I was a kid and the channel that broadcasted the game made them look like they was the better team.

But right after that, my brother went from being a Sonics fan (because of Shawn Kemp) to liking the Knicks because he won a trip to NY by answering a question on the radio and he went to the Garden at the age of 12. So I just followed the lead and became myself a Knicks fan. I was about 10 at that time and I've been in love with this team ever since. And I can tell you that's not gonna change.

[aq_ua]

I too grew up outside of the US, and only discovered the NBA during the summer of 1992, right around the time Mark Jackson was traded for Charles Smith and Bo Kimble. That summer, I bought the Official 1992-93 NBA Basketball Almanac and didn't it down for the rest of the summer. It confused the heck out of me how a team expected to be able to start a front line of Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Charles Smith when none of them could shoot 3 pointers and really defend opposing small forwards. Then later that year, the trade for Tony Campbell came and suddenly it started making sense. But then, we all realized Tony Campbell kinda sucked, and the 1 center 2 power forward line up, with Anthony Mason, another power foward, backing up the 3 spot actually worked and led to wins. Followed that up by buying my first NBA video games, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball and Team USA Basketball, and it's been all Knicks since.

[Spandau]

'94 playoff run, and the '95 season. It was when I first really became hooked on the NBA, and right from the jump, the Knicks were the team that excited me every opportunity I got to see them. I was practically hooked straight away, I was rooting for the Knicks and I haven't slowed down since.

[-]NYK[-]

It's a funny story and most people will laugh about it, but it began with the demo version of NBA Live 2000. Each year, the demo has just the two finalists of the year before, so there were the Spurs and the Knicks. I read and watched the NBA only a few times before. As a german citizen, it's very difficult to watch the NBA. Live games are only shown in the pay TV, and even there, there is perhaps just only one Knicks game each year. During the 90's me and my friends began to play Basketball for the first time. My best friend was a fan of the Magic at that time. We all didn't know much about the NBA. Of course we knew the most important Names like Shaq, Penny, Jordan, Pippen, Miller and Barkley. But as I mentioned, there was no chance for watching the live games. Sometimes, there were a few reports on the german sports channel. Detlef Schrempf, as the first important german in the NBA, made Basketball more popular, especially for the younger generations. But of course, we are a typical soccer nation, so the hype calmed down after a while. The only franchise, everyone knew at that time, were the Chicago Bulls with Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. After a while my interest decreased and until 2000 I didn't follow the NBA. Then I hold the demo of NBA Live in my hands and played it for a while and bought the game. But at that time, I didn't know anything about the several rosters, so I played with the team, I also played in the demo. Since I was a kid, I loved the city of New York, also I have never been there yet. So I went with the Knicks. After a while, I really got interested in this team, which I only knew from the game. I began to watch videos and articles in the internet about them and the great atmosphere of the playoffs in 1999 and from this point on, I love the Knicks. Especially Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston made me a fan of this franchise. Sometime in the future, I will visit the Big Apple. And then, of course, I will watch them live at the garden.