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The New York Knicks play in a massive market, but that advantage can only take a franchise so far in the NBA.
With the league dominated by stars and stars increasingly difficult to get ahold of in this era, the Knicks endured some monumentally difficult stretches over the first two decades of the 21st century.
27 years between NBA Finals appearances doesn't do justice to what Knicks fans suffered through. New York won one playoff series in a span of 23 years after their Finals bid in 1999, at one point posting nine consecutive losing seasons.
Knicks fans can say they deserve this NBA Finals run, and these lineups prove it.
Here are the worst Knicks starting lineups since their last Finals appearance, ranked from bad to worst.
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10. November 19, 2013 vs. Pistons
- Carmelo Anthony
- Andrea Bargnani
- Kenyon Martin
- Iman Shumpert
- Beno Udrih
A starting five with Carmelo Anthony can't be too, too bad, but he very much looks like that meme with the sports car next to the run-down house.
Andrea Bargnani was a failed acquisition for a Knicks team looking to take the next step after earning the No. 2 seed in the East, while Kenyon Martin was on his last legs after injuries limited him to 18 games the previous season. Iman Shumpert had proved by that point that he was more of a role player than a building block, and Beno Udrih was a journeyman who had made a combined nine starts over the previous two seasons.
The Knicks suffered a 92-86 loss to the Pistons when they first trotted out this lineup.
9. March 11, 2018 vs. Raptors
- Michael Beasley
- Tim Hardaway Jr.
- Luke Kornet
- Emmanuel Mudiay
- Frank Ntilikina
The first season of the post-Carmelo Anthony era for the Knicks saw the team win only 29 games and simply try to piece together the rest of the season after Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn ACL in early February.
The result was a lineup like this. Michael Beasley had only started nine games over the previous four seasons before starting 30 for the Knicks, while a backcourt of Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay left New York reeling. Luke Kornet might be a well known name today, but this was the first NBA start for a player who, at the time, was a complete unknown after starting his professional career in the G League.
The Knicks allowed 132 points for a 26-point loss to the Raptors with this group.
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8. March 31, 2018 vs. Pistons
- Michael Beasley
- Trey Burke
- Tim Hardaway Jr.
- Kyle O'Quinn
- Troy Williams
Nearly three weeks later, the Knicks shook it up and ran out a lineup that included undrafted former Indiana forward Troy Williams in his only start of the season. Williams was joined in the frontcourt by fan favorite Kyle O'Quinn, while Trey Burke got the start at point guard, working with Beasley and de facto team leader Tim Hardaway Jr.
This lineup lost to the Pistons, 115-109.
7. April 10, 2007 vs. Bulls
- Mardy Collins
- Eddy Curry
- Channing Frye
- Jared Jeffries
- Nate Robinson
Some of the bad Knicks teams of the mid-to-late 2000s had some blend of either washed up veterans or young building blocks that made watching the games a bit more palatable. This lineup was an exception, though Nate Robinson was admittedly a fan favorite.
Jared Jeffries never averaged more than 5.3 points per game in two stints as a Knick, while Frye took a sizable step back in 2006-07 after a promising rookie campaign.
Mardy Collins only made 31 starts in four seasons, while Eddy Curry enjoyed the best statistical season of his career in 2006-07 but went down as a forgettable Knick because of the way injuries wrecked the back end of his time in New York.
The Knicks scored only 69 points with this lineup, falling 98-69 to the Bulls.
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6. February 11, 2019 vs. Cavaliers
- Damyean Dotson
- Mario Hezonja
- DeAndre Jordan
- Kevin Knox
- Dennis Smith Jr.
The Knicks at one point went 3-33 over a 36-game stretch during the 2018-19 season, which is tied for the worst in franchise history. Lineups like these were the reason.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Emmanuel Mudiay were the Knicks' leading scorers in 2018-19, which speaks for itself, and even they weren't in the lineup for this Feb. 11 game against the just-as-dismal Cavaliers. Failed lottery picks Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith Jr. and Mario Hezonja got the start, joined by Damyean Dotson and veteran center DeAndre Jordan.
Despite Jordan's pedigree as an All-NBA center just two years earlier, this group was one of the low points of a season that had many of them. With that being said, the Knicks only fell by three on the road as the Cavaliers improved to 12-45.
5. March 23, 2015 vs. Grizzlies
- Lou Amundson
- Andrea Bargnani
- Langston Galloway
- Shane Larkin
- Lance Thomas
What's tied with the 2018-19 season as the worst in Knicks history? The 2014-15 campaign, of course.
Knee issues limited Carmelo Anthony to 40 games, while Amar'e Stoudemire was a shell of himself before being bought-out midseason. With both veterans off the court in the second half, the Knicks hit new lows.
Shane Larkin got the start at point guard in the first of a handful of games that saw this exact lineup get run out by coach Derek Fisher, joined by undrafted rookie Langston Galloway. Veterans Lance Thomas and Andrea Bargnani were ineffective in the frontcourt, and journeyman center Lou Amundson made 35 of his 42 NBA starts in this dismal season.
This group fell 103-82 to the Grizzlies at home.
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4. March 9, 2015 vs. Nuggets
- Andrea Bargnani
- Langston Galloway
- Alexey Shved
- Jason Smith
- Lance Thomas
Just two weeks earlier, the Knicks ran out a slightly different but equally as baffling starting five in a 106-78 loss to the Nuggets.
Bargnani, Galloway and Thomas started, but instead of Amundson and Larkin, they were joined by Alexey Shved and Jason Smith. Shved started nine of his 16 games with the Knicks and never played in the NBA again after the season, while Smith would only start eight more games over the rest of his NBA career after his New York exit.
3. April 6, 2017 vs. Wizards
- Ron Baker
- Willy Hernangomez
- Justin Holiday
- Maurice Ndour
- Courtney Lee
In one of the final games of Carmelo Anthony's final season with the Knicks, Jeff Hornacek trotted out this group led by veteran Courtney Lee. Rookie Willy Hernangomez got the start at center, while Justin Holiday made only his third start of the season.
Holiday was one of three undrafted players in this lineup. Maurice Ndour's only NBA action came during the 2016-17 season, with this being one was of his four career starts, while Ron Baker admittedly became a well-liked player in New York but was far from a starting-caliber NBA guard or even much of an NBA player at all; he started only one more game after this season.
The Knicks still only lost this game by three at home against the playoff-bound Wizards.
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2. April 3, 2016 vs. Pacers
- Cleanthony Early
- Jerian Grant
- Robin Lopez
- Sasha Vujacic
- Derrick Williams
If not for Cleanthony Early, most NBA fans might look at this starting five and have no idea which team it even was. Journeyman center Robin Lopez was the closest among this group to a regular NBA starter, while Early started only nine games in his two NBA seasons and Jeriant Grant spent only one season in New York before he was included in the Derrick Rose trade.
Former No. 2 pick Derrick Williams only spent one season with the Knicks in his underwhelming career, starting nine games, while New York was Vujacic's last stop in a career highlighted by playing alongside Kobe Bryant in between European stints.
With that being said, the Knicks only lost to the Pacers by five with this group.
1. February 1, 2019 vs. Celtics
- Kadeem Allen
- Damyean Dotson
- Kevin Knox
- Luke Kornet
- Noah Vonleh
In a close battle, this starting five has to win. Take your pick as to which player was the best on the floor. It wasn't Kadeem Allen, who was making the second of two career starts, and it probably wasn't Noah Vonleh, who would go on to start two more NBA games after the 2018-19 season. Even Kornet wasn't yet the reliable reserve big man he would become in Boston.
Damyean Dotson and Kevin Knox each scored more than 20 points in this game against the Celtics, with Dotson drilling four 3-pointers. It unsurprisingly wasn't enough, though a 14-point loss really gives the feeling that it could have been much worse with this group on the floor.
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