Araton (sports columnist, New York Times; Crashing the Borders: How Basketball Won the World and Lost Its Soul at Home) takes us back to the rebuilding and triumph-in the late 1960s and early 1970s-of one of New York's most celebrated teams, making us feel as if we all witnessed the huge NBA finals over four decades ago. Offering anecdotes, historical happenings, and sports infamy, this action-packed book will immerse you in legendary New York Knicks glory. Through stories of Walt "Clyde" Frazier, future NBA championship-winning coach Phil Jackson, a 13-year-old Spike Lee, and the solitary Woody Allen sitting in the stands, you'll be transported back to Madison Square Garden-when there was no such thing as a three pointer. Araton knows his subject. He reminds readers that this was an era when racism was a regular factor and writes in a relatable fashion with wisdom and insight. Verdict All NBA-starved fans can take a walk down Nostalgia Lane with this book, especially with the lockout giving them more time to read! Highly recommended for sports gurus and avid and casual Knicks and basketball fans alike. Engaging and even inspiring.-Lily Barrish, New York (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* The New York Knicks won two NBA championships in the early seventies. Longtime fans, Knicks lovers or not, revere those teams as benchmarks of basketball intelligence and teamwork. Araton, a sports columnist for the New York Times since 1991, revisits those magical years, relying on print accounts plus updated interviews with the players, coaches, and celebrity fans. Phil Jackson, a key reserve on the teams and later the most successful coach of all time, offers thoughts on how those years under coach Red Holzman provided the foundation for his subsequent success. Bill Bradley, later a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, discusses the adjustments he made in evolving from collegiate superstar and Rhodes Scholar to supporting player. Captain Willis Reed gives Araton a tour of his Louisiana hometown. Late coach Holzman was the key and sometimes-forgotten ingredient in the mix. A reluctant coach, he rose to the challenge and would accept nothing less than complete commitment to selfless play and winning. The coming NBA season may not happen due to labor strife. This book will help fans weather the storm by celebrating basketball at its very best: five players working as one, sharing the glory and achieving the ultimate success.--Lukowsky, We. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Long before he was a sports columnist for the New York Times, native New Yorker Araton grew up loving the Knicks during their championship heyday. Personal significance aside, according to Araton, the teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s "were the city's first true basketball love, consummated in the years before the romance of sport became complicated by money and the constructed divide between athlete and fan." Their share-the-wealth success spurred countless books and created several heroes, such as Walt "Clyde" Frazier, who was smooth on and off the court, and inspirational leader Willis Reed, whose dramatic return from a painful knee injury in game seven of the 1970s NBA finals cemented his legend. Araton profiles the team's construction, its players (some of whom have seen better days since retirement), and the high profile fans ( Woody Allen, Elliot Gould) who may have helped turn pro basketball into a media-savvy, worldwide business. The author's attempts to tie the era's political tumult and his own personal experiences to the larger story feel arbitrary and forced, but this thoroughly reported examination of the "Old Knicks" and their connection to the city is still an essential read for basketball history buffs. 8 pages of b&w photo. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.