Ah, yes, the holiday season, when little kids can showcase their youthful energy while adults can rewind the clock for at least a little bit.
Although New York Knicks fans haven’t been able to wholly enjoy the holiday season for the greater part of the last two decades—hey, let’s be honest—that’s no longer the case these days. With Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way, that oh-so-magical feeling has once again consumed our Madison Square Garden souls.
The feeling is similar to that of receiving the best holiday gift of your life, some may argue. If your present-receiving experience mirrors that of any of the Knicks legends (as seen in the video below), you’ll be sitting pretty in the back half of December.
John Starks, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Larry Johnson, and other Knicks alumnus recently shared their all-time holiday gifts given or received, as posted by the organization’s official X (formerly Twitter) account:
Starks, who remains one of the most beloved Knicks in franchise history, might have shared the most relatable gift-receiving story.
Mentioning that it was tough for his mom to afford it—as was the case for many of our parents—Starks’s eyes and smile grew bigger the more he thought about his favorite all-time holiday present.
“A basketball,” Starks said while unable to hold back a tremendous smile. “I always wanted a leather basketball. My mother couldn’t afford it, (but) then when I was like eight years old, she finally got me a leather basketball. So, it was the greatest.”
Ah, yes, John, for me, in that era of the 1990s, when the NBA had already turned to Spalding to produce its official balls, there was nothing quite like unwrapping that official NBA indoor leather ball.
Naturally, Knicks legend Walt Frazier answered with a simple yet impactful greatest-ever gift: “cash.” Well, he also mentioned “love and affection to my family,” but let’s cut out the nonsense, shall we? Clyde could not wait to utter that four-letter word.
Other Knicks alumni who revealed their favorite holiday gifts (in no particular order) include Larry Johnson, who cited when he could see his mom’s face after seeing the house he built for her, J.R. Smith and Eddy Curry, who both referenced Super Nintendo, Raymond Felton, Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Kenny Walker, Iman Shumpert, and the great Bernard King, who also went down the basketball-receiving route.
The only thing left to say is the following: Shout out to my early-1990s Sega Genesis people.
