The Knicks play Game 4 of their second-round playoff series against the Pacers tonight. This might not seem to be a particularly noteworthy accomplishment. After all, eight teams make Round 2 every year (that's over a quarter of the league). What makes the Knicks' presence noteworthy is that they haven't been relevant in the playoffs — which we're defining as having won at least one Round 2 game — in THIRTEEN YEARS. May 21, 2000. That was the last time the Knicks put one on the board in the second round. The only other teams that didn't win a Round 2 game during that span are the Bobcats and Wizards.
13 years is a long time. Here are some things that have happened during those 13 years:
1. Tim Duncan got ten THOUSAND rebounds.
2. There were more dunks in the WNBA (six) than Knicks postseason appearances (five).
3. Yao Ming's entire career transpired.
4. Former (and current) Knick forward Quentin Richardson played on seven different teams.
5. Former Knick forward Matt Barnes played on EIGHT different teams.
6. Former Knick guard Eddie House played on NINE different teams.
7. There have been 26 seasons of Survivor.
8. America invaded, occupied, and left Iraq.
9. Five Fast and Furious films were released (we almost made it to six, guys).
10. Michael Vick was selected with the #1 pick in the 2001 NFL draft, was arrested and incarcerated for operating a dog fighting ring, was released from prison and reinstated into the NFL, became a star again and then lost his job again.
11. Somalia has had seven different presidents (hat-tip to Jim Cavan of Knickerblogger for this one).
All told, the Knicks went 4,734 days between winning second-round playoff games. That's a long time. Here's a list of things that lasted fewer than 4,734 days:
— Bill Russell's NBA career
— World War I
— World War II
— World War I and World War II combined
— The presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
— The presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Millard Fillmore, Gerald Ford, Warren Harding, Zachary Taylor, James Garfield, and William Henry Harrison combined
— The manned-mission segment of the Apollo Space Program
— The entire run of The Beatles as an active band
— The writing of the film treatment, writing of the script, development of the technology required to produce, filming, editing, theatrical release, and DVD release of James Cameron's Avatar
Here's hoping that it doesn't take the Knicks another 13 years to win the next one.
