Just over a decade ago, the New York Knicks were already one of the most exciting teams in basketball.
During the 2012–13 season, New York fans witnessed the epitome of the “Knickstape” era. It was a special year highlighted by heat-check performances, emphatic throwdowns and clutch plays from several compelling players and personalities.
Powered by Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton, the Knicks established themselves as solid title contenders, clinching 54 regular-season wins and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, they came up short in the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, losing in six hard-fought games.
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Looking back at what could have been, Felton is convinced that he and his Knicks team would’ve won it all in 2013 if they had only remained healthy.
“I’m all in on that. … Everybody was banged up,” Felton said during his appearance on The No Limit podcast hosted by his former Knicks teammate Iman Shumpert.
The Knicks relatively overachieved that year despite the injury issues they faced. All-Star big man Amar’e Stoudemire was limited to just 29 games due to severe knee problems, while Anthony (shoulder), Felton (hand) and Chandler (neck) suffered injuries late in the season that significantly affected their playoff performances.
For Felton, LeBron James and the 66-win Miami Heat didn’t even want any smoke from them.
“Miami didn’t want to see us that year,” the retired point guard added.
“That’s all I’m saying,” Shumpert quickly responded. “Melo had the 50-ball waiting. He told us he had them in his pocket. He told me, ‘Shorty, I’m telling you, in seven [games] we can get them. I just need you to do whatever you gotta do to keep D-Wade out there.’”
“If we did get in there, it was gonna be a hell of a matchup [in the East Finals].”
The Knicks outlasted the Heat in three of their four regular-season matchups, which makes Felton and Shumpert’s points at least somewhat reasonable against the eventual back-to-back NBA champions.
At the end of the day, even though they failed to win the championship, that 2013 Knicks squad will always remain memorable — one for the books for the diehard New York fanbase.
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