The Zen Master vs. H20
Yeah, I already know this is going to be one of those articles, you know, the kind where someone makes a comment, “Did we really need a whole article for this?” And my answer to that is: Yes… yes we do! Just like every 1-16 matchup in the NCAA tournament has to be played, every matchup in our bracket has to go down as well. Even the lopsided ones, except for the default second-round matchup of Larry Johnson vs Clarence Weatherspoon. I won’t subject even myself to writing that one. Nevertheless, I’ve veered too far off the path.
This week’s Who Really Wore it Best features Phil Jackson vs. Allan Houston, and let’s be real: this one is not even close. I won’t waste time trying to manufacture drama. But hey, if you really want to squint hard enough to make a case for Jackson as a Knick over Houston… well, one of the greatest coaches in NBA history also got two rings as a player for the Knicks, something Houston does not have. Jackson also spent ten seasons in the Orange and Blue to Houston’s nine.
Antonio Losada
#18 Phil Jackson — The Zen Master didn’t have much competition to win the WWIB #18 battle. He earned 68% of the votes, and the next closest runner up was Ernie Grunfeld with 13%. It was about as lopsided in Phil’s favor as this week’s matchup is in Houston’s favor.
For the younger Gen X who may only know of Phil Jackson as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, who led the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to a combined eleven championships, he also earned two rings as a player for the Knicks from 1967 to 1978. Known more for his defensive and enforcer prowess, Phil quite literally enforced defensively, tying for the league lead in personal fouls in 1974-75. Not exactly a stat you frame on the wall, but it fits.
During his early years with the Knicks, Jackson’s role was somewhat limited. The new role to be more of a team leader was presented to him after several key players from the 1973 championship team retired. Jackson made the most of this new opportunity in 1973-74, in which he saw his minutes per game increase from 17 to 25 minutes per game. He achieved a career-high of 11.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He topped the 1973-74 campaign with an even better season the following year. Playing a career-high 29 minutes per game, he averaged just under 11 points per game and upped his rebounding to just under 8 per game.
Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
#20 Allan Houston — It wasn’t close back when we did WWIB #20 almost a year ago to the day, and it won’t be any closer this week. Last year, Houston easily earned the title of the best #20 in Knicks history with 224 of the 276 votes.
Allan Houston is revered by Knicks fans as one of the franchise’s pillars and a true all-time fan favorite. In 2012, he was honored as the greatest Knick of the 2000s, one of five players recognized that night, each representing a different decade. Granted, the award was handed out during Carmelo Anthony’s debut at the Garden, but it was still well deserved, and only the influx of talent in the years since has nudged him down the rankings.
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
As Patrick Ewing’s Knicks tenure wound down and the core from the 1994 Finals run faded away, Allan Houston stepped up and became the face of the franchise for the next nine seasons. Once he took the reins from John Starks as the starting two-guard in his first year, he never looked back, until knee injuries unfortunately derailed his final years.
But when healthy, Houston was a problem. Over nine seasons with the Knicks, he averaged 17.3 points per game and nearly four threes per game. His 921 made threes rank just behind Starks’ 982, but it’s worth noting that Houston hit his on 538 fewer attempts (2,310 to Starks’ 2,848). He earned back-to-back All-Star nods in 2000 and 2001 and took home Olympic gold as a member of the 2000 USA Men’s National Team.