It has been 27 long, agonizing, painful years for New York Knicks fans since they were last in the NBA Finals. So many years of promise before watching them slip away, so many years of seeing Spike Lee age courtside before our eyes. The years of Starbury, Melo, and the hopes of landing LeBron — none of it led to victory.
The Knicks are back in the NBA Finals, here is what the world looked like when they last went
What a time it was …
Now the Knicks are back. So much has changed since they faced the San Antonio Spurs in June of 1999 — heck, this was their starting five in those finals.
Charlie Ward
Allan Houston
Larry Johnson
Kurt Thomas
Patrick Ewing
It’s a good time to go through the wayback machine to remember what the world was like when the Knicks last had a chance to win it all.
- Four new countries have been recognized by the U.N. since the Knicks were in the finals: Serbia (2000), Timor Leste (2002), Montenegro (2006), and South Sudan (2011)
- Regular gasoline cost an average of $1.17 a gallon in the USA
- The Super Bowl played in January featured the Denver Broncos beating the Atlanta Falcons. John Elway was named MVP. The halftime show was Gloria Estefan and Stevie Wonder
- The No. 1 movie in America was Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which was Mike Myers’ first movie since Wayne’s World 2
- The top album in the United States was Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin, and it still slaps
- E.R. was the most popular TV show in the country. It ran for another 10 years after the Knicks were in the finals. Noah Wyle took a 16-year break and released another hit medical drama in The Pitt during the Knicks’ time off
- The world was still gripped by the Friends season five finale, in which Ross and Rachel got drunkenly married in Las Vegas
- Six months after the NBA Finals, there was the first media mention of a promising high school basketball player named LeBron James. Local beat writer Brian Windhorst said he was “very impressive.”
- Derek Jeter was 25 years old, and made his third MLB All-Star team
- Wayne Gretzky played his final season with the New York Rangers
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned 1, Luka Doncic was four months old, and Victor Wembanyama was negative-five
- Rick Brunson played for the Knicks, now his son Jalen is their star
- Donald Trump divorced Marla Maples, his second of three wives
- This is what NBA.com looked like
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