The New York Knicks are a storied franchise, one whose history is filled with point guards that understood what it meant to play the position.
For the longest of times, the point guard position has always been one of the most valuable of the five out on the court. A head coach on the floor, these floor generals are tasked with carrying out their head coaches’ offensive gameplan, while making sure each player is where they’re supposed to be at any given moment. This is a daunting task that varies depending on the situation.
Aside from the playbook, the primary ball handler on any team is tasked with simply feeling out the game and adjusting accordingly. This could be done by making a concerted effort to pound the ball down low or maybe get out on the fast break whenever possible. Some point guards have such high-ego players as teammates. So it’s important for them to remember how many shots everyone’s received to make sure they’re all happy and engaged.
The New York Knicks have been around since 1946, which makes them no strangers to the ins and outs of running an NBA team from the court. The beauty is that there’s no one correct way to be a point guard in the league. Some guys lead by getting buckets, while others tend to make their mark by getting teammates involved in the action.
New York may not have seen much in the category of championships in a long time, but some of the floor generals that have come and gone really did make their mark on the court. They did this by representing what it means to play the position without having to sacrifice what made them unique in the first place. Here are the 15 greatest floor generals in Knicks franchise history.