1985–86 New York Knicks season

1985–86 New York Knicks season
1985–86 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Hubie Brown
General manager	Dave DeBusschere; Gordon Stirling
Owners	Gulf+Western
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	23–59 (.280)
Place	Division: 5th; Conference: 11th
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WOR-TV; MSG Network; (Jim Karvellas, Butch Beard)
Radio	WNBC; (Marv Albert, John Andariese)
< 1984–85	1986–87 >

The 1985–86 New York Knicks season was the 40th season of NBA basketball in New York City, New York. The Knicks had won the first overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft in the league's first ever draft lottery, which they used to select Patrick Ewing out of Georgetown, who was regarded as the most sought-after prospect since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1969 by The New York Times.^[1]^[2] He was signed to a six-year $17 million deal, the richest ever for an NBA rookie.^[3]

Despite Ewing struggling with injuries, he was named Rookie of the Year and was selected to play in the All-Star Game, however, he declined to play due to an injury.

Bernard King missed the entire season while recovering from his knee surgery.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	1	Patrick Ewing	C	United States^[4]	Georgetown
2	23	Gerald Wilkins	SG/SF	United States	Tennessee–Chattanooga
4	3	Fred Cofield	G	United States	Eastern Michigan
5	3	Mike Schlegel	C	United States	Virginia Commonwealth
6	3	Kent Lockhart	G	United States	Texas–El Paso
7	3	Ken Bantum	F	United States	Cornell

Source:^[5]

Regular season

Season Standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	67	15	.817	–	40–1	27–14	18–6
x-Philadelphia 76ers	54	28	.659	13	31–10	23–18	15–9
x-Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	28	26–15	13–28	11–13
x-New Jersey Nets	39	43	.476	28	26–15	13–28	11–13
New York Knicks	23	59	.280	44	15–26	8–33	5–19

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	67	15	.817	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	57	25	.695	10
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	54	28	.659	13
4	x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	17
5	x-Detroit Pistons	46	36	.561	21
6	x-Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	28
7	x-New Jersey Nets	39	43	.476	28
8	x-Chicago Bulls	30	52	.366	37

9	Cleveland Cavaliers	29	53	.354	38
10	Indiana Pacers	26	56	.317	41
11	New York Knicks	23	59	.280	44

Record vs. opponents

1985-86 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	0–6	5–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	4–2	5–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4
Boston	6–0	—	5–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	2–0	5–0	4–2	5–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–1
Chicago	1–5	1–5	—	3–3	0–2	2–0	2–4	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–4
Cleveland	2–4	1–5	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	1–5	0–2	0–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–5	3–3	4–1	0–6	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–5
Dallas	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	—	3–3	0–2	4–1	1–5	2–0	2–3	1–4	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	5–0	2–3	3–3	4–2	3–2	5–1	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	—	1–1	3–2	3–3	2–0	4–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	3–2	3–3	3–3	2–3	3–3	2–0
Detroit	2–4	1–4	4–2	5–1	2–0	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	4–2	4–1	2–4	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	4–2
Golden State	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–4	2–3	1–1	—	0–5	1–1	5–1	2–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–5	2–3	2–3	2–4	2–3	1–1
Houston	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	3–3	1–1	5–0	—	2–0	3–2	1–4	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	3–2	4–2	5–1	3–2	3–3	2–0
Indiana	1–5	1–5	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	1–5	1–1	0–2	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–3	2–4	0–6	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	5–1
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–4	0–2	1–5	2–3	0–2	—	2–4	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	5–0	1–4	3–3	3–2	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–3	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	4–2	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	6–0	5–0	4–1	4–2	5–0	2–0
Milwaukee	3–3	0–5	5–1	5–1	2–0	0–2	4–2	2–0	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	—	4–2	6–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
New Jersey	2–4	2–4	3–2	3–3	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	—	5–1	2–4	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–4
New York	1–5	1–5	2–4	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	1–1	0–2	4–2	0–2	1–1	0–6	1–5	—	0–6	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–3
Philadelphia	1–4	2–4	5–1	6–0	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	6–0	2–0	0–2	1–4	4–2	6–0	—	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–3
Phoenix	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–5	1–4	2–0	4–2	2–3	1–1	4–2	1–5	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	—	2–4	2–3	3–2	5–1	1–4	1–1
Portland	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–3	1–1	5–1	2–3	2–0	4–2	0–6	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–2	4–2	—	3–2	1–4	5–1	2–3	0–2
Sacramento	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	2–0	3–2	2–4	2–0	0–5	0–5	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–2	2–3	—	5–1	5–0	2–4	1–1
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	3–3	1–1	3–2	1–5	1–1	4–1	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	4–1	1–5	—	2–3	2–4	2–0
Seattle	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–2	0–2	4–2	2–3	0–2	3–3	2–4	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–5	0–5	3–2	—	2–3	1–1
Utah	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–5	3–3	1–1	3–2	3–3	2–0	2–3	0–5	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	3–2	4–2	4–2	3–2	—	1–1
Washington	4–1	1–5	4–1	5–1	1–1	0–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–0	0–2	2–4	4–2	3–3	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	—

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
PF	20	Bailey, James	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1957–05–21	Rutgers
PF	1	Bannister, Ken	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1960–04–01	St. Augustine's
C	25	Cartwright, Bill	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1957–07–30	San Francisco
PG	35	Cofield, Fred	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1962–01–04	Eastern Michigan
C	42	Cummings, Pat	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1956–07–11	Cincinnati
C	33	Ewing, Patrick	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1962–08–05	Georgetown
PF	3	Green, Ken	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1959–09–19	Texas–Pan American
SF	18	Grunfeld, Ernie	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1955–04–24	Tennessee
SF	30	King, Bernard	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1956–12–04	Tennessee
PF	14	McNealy, Chris	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1961–07–15	San José State
SF	55	Orr, Louis	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1958–05–07	Syracuse
PG	2	Sparrow, Rory	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1958–06–12	Villanova
PF	23	Thornton, Bob	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1962–07–10	UC Irvine
SG	6	Tucker, Trent	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1959–12–20	Minnesota
PG	4	Walker, Darrell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1961–03–09	Arkansas
SG	21	Wilkins, Gerald	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1963–09–11	Chattanooga

Head coach

Hubie Brown

Assistant coach(es)

Bob Hill

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

Patrick Ewing, NBA All-Star Game Appearance
Patrick Ewing, NBA Rookie of the Year
Patrick Ewing, NBA All-Rookie Team

Records

Milestones

Transactions

References

^ "All Eyes on Lottery for Ewing". The New York Times. May 6, 1985.
^ "Draft a Tall Story, with Ewing on Top". The New York Times. June 19, 1985.
^ "Ewing Signs Pact Worth Up To $30 Million". The New York Times. September 19, 1985.
^ Ewing was born in Jamaica, but had become a naturalized United States citizen while at Georgetown, as evidenced by his selection to the USA team at the 1984 Olympics.
^ "Nets Are Getting International Look". The New York Times. June 19, 1985. Retrieved January 29, 2023.

[1] "All Eyes on Lottery for Ewing". The New York Times. May 6, 1985.

[2] "Draft a Tall Story, with Ewing on Top". The New York Times. June 19, 1985.

[3] "Ewing Signs Pact Worth Up To $30 Million". The New York Times. September 19, 1985.

[4] Ewing was born in Jamaica, but had become a naturalized United States citizen while at Georgetown, as evidenced by his selection to the USA team at the 1984 Olympics.

[5] "Nets Are Getting International Look". The New York Times. June 19, 1985. Retrieved January 29, 2023.

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