Top 10 Knicks tough guys of all time
From left, Kurt Thomas, Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley with the Knicks. Credit: Getty Images
Admit it. As you watch yet another NBA team win by shooting themselves out of a 25-point halftime deficit, you pine for a simpler time, when offenses were forced to work for every point and flagrant fouls were really flagrant fouls, not just a hard foul that got upgraded upon review. Where have all the tough guys gone? Rule changes and analytics that emphasize the three-point shot long ago moved the NBA away from the physical style of play that ruled the league in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Over the years — particularly in the 1990s — the Knicks have had some of the toughest guys in NBA history. Below is a ranking that considers mental, emotional and physical toughness, willingness to play hurt, determination to win and protect teammates at almost any cost, intimidation factor and — though we don’t want to use the word dirty — the willingness to occasionally cross that line.
10. JULIUS RANDLE
The only active player to make the list, Randle was never one to back down from a confrontation in his five seasons with the Knicks. A fair argument can be made that the team lost an important degree of toughness when they sent him to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns. Randle was involved in multiple scuffles as a Knick. The two most memorable? In a 2022 game against the Suns, he was ejected and later fined $50,000 for shoving Cam Johnson and making contact with an official who tried to break up the scuffle. In a 2021 playoff game against the Hawks, he forever endeared himself to Knicks fans and ignited a minor scuffle when he threw the ball at Trae Young, who had fallen underneath the basket.
9. CHRIS CHILDS
Known for his intense, physical defense and penchant for committing hard fouls, Childs was often tasked with guarding an opponent’s top star. Though not a marquee name himself, he wasn’t afraid to take on those who were. He is best known for his fight with Kobe Bryant in April 2000. Upset about a hard elbow, Childs headbutted the Lakers star and threw two punches before Bryant retaliated and the two had to be separated. Childs was suspended two games and Bryant one.
8. XAVIER McDANIEL
The X-Man is one of the scariest guys ever to play the game and would rank much higher if he had played more than one season for the Knicks. When Pat Riley brought him to New York for the 1991-92 campaign, McDaniel was best known to Knicks fans for a violent altercation he had had with Charles Oakley during a Knicks-Sonics game two years earlier that resulted in both players being ejected. McDaniel wasted no time cementing his tough-guy reputation by getting in a fight with Anthony Mason during the first day of Knicks training camp. Fun fact: Opposing players often complained that the X-Man rarely trimmed his nails.
7. KURT THOMAS
Nicknamed “Dirty Kurty” by opposing teams, Thomas was known for his bone-crushing screens, trash talking and willingness to cross the line. His physicality played a key role in the Knicks' improbable run to the NBA Finals in 1999. Thomas wasn’t afraid of anyone. He traded punches with Jalen Rose on Christmas Day in 1999 and was fined $10,000. He challenged Stephon Marbury, his teammate, to a fight in the locker room because he didn’t like his attitude.
6. JOHN STARKS
Starks may be the smallest of the Knicks' marquee players from the 1990s, but he made up for it with his fiery temper and hard-nosed play. Starks was responsible for one of the most enduring images of the Knicks-Indiana rivalry of the '90s when he headbutted Reggie Miller in the playoffs. Perhaps the best part of that altercation was the reaction of teammates Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley, who were so ticked off at the way Starks lost his cool that they roughly helped escort him off the court as he was ejected from the game.
5. DAVE DeBUSSCHERE
A legendary enforcer and premier rebounder, DeBusschere was the defensive anchor for the Knicks' two championship teams. His acquisition from Detroit in 1968 is considered by many to be the move that brought the championship team together. A six-time All-Defensive first team selection, he was famous for being able to guard everyone from quick guards to 7-footers. That was clearly on display in Game 5 of the 1970 Finals, when after Willis Reed was injured, the 6-6 DeBusschere was asked to guard Wilt Chamberlain. DeBusschere held his own defensively against the big man while forcing him to expend energy guarding him on the perimeter. His defense and rebounding were instrumental in the team overcoming a 13-point halftime deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
4. PATRICK EWING
The cornerstone of the Knicks for a generation, Ewing is considered by many, including us, to be the best Knick of all time. Though not known as an enforcer — his talent was too vast for that — there’s no denying Ewing's toughness, durability and physical style of play. Ewing holds franchise records for points, rebounds, blocks and steals. It was his work ethic and hard-nosed mentality that Riley constructed the team around. Ewing took the Knicks his team to the NBA Finals twice, and gets tough guy points for finding a way to thrive in the toughest media market.
3. ANTHONY MASON
Known for his brute strength, Mason along with Charles Oakley was the heart-and-soul of the Knicks’ 1990s Knicks teams. Muscular and fearless, Mason played with a chip on his shoulder that came from being a late draft choice who had to begin his career overseas before catching the eye of Riley in summer camp. Mason never backed down from an altercation – on or off the court. Twice he was suspended by the Knicks for arguing with coach Pat Riley. Mason finished his career with 192 technical fouls, the seventh most of any player in NBA history.
2. WILLIS REED
Reed’s tunnel walk alone is enough to put him high on this list as his determination to play Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals with a torn thigh muscle is the epitome of the tough guy ethos. Reed’s tough-guy resume goes well beyond this one moment, however, as he was known for using his elbows for protecting the paint and made it clear early in his career that he was not one to be pushed around. In his third year with the team, Reed fought with almost the entire Lakers team after getting into a tussle with Lakers forward Rudy LaRusso. Not only did Reed twice punch Russo, who threw the first punch, he went after the rest of the Lakers team, including throwing a left hook at rookie John Block that broke his nose. Reed and LaRusso were fined $50 for the fight, but no one was suspended.
1. CHARLES OAKLEY
Who else did you expect? Oakley, whose autobiography is aptly entitled “The Last Enforcer,” had 4,421 career fouls, fourth in NBA history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Robert Parish. Oakley was the toughest guy on the toughest team in the NBA in the 1990s. He finished his career with 168 technical fouls and 24 flagrant fouls, and he was beloved by his teammates for the fact that he always had their back. Three decades later, Oakley may still be the toughest Knick around. When Newsday called him for advice on how the Knicks should handle Joel Embiid in the playoffs two years ago, the response was trademark Oak: “I probably would have smacked him.” Enough said.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
