Knicks Legends Set to Present Hall of Fame Teammate

A pair of familiar faces will be on hand to guide former New York Knicks star Dick Barnett into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame unveiled its list of presenters for the Oct. 13 ceremony that will lead its 2024 class into hardwood immortality. Introducing Barnett will be fellow former Knicks Bill Bradley and Earl “The Pearl Monroe,” who earned their respective Springfield tickets in 1983 and 1990.

Barnett, 87, is finally getting his Hall of Fame nod after decades of waiting and campaigning from other ex-Manhattanites. Together with Bradley and Monroe, Barnett partook in the Knicks’ most recent championship run in 1973, his final full NBA season. Barnett and Bradley also helped the team bring home its first NBA Finals victory three years prior.

Barnett played parts of nine seasons (1965-73) with the Knicks after arriving in a 1965 trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. He continues to rank in the top 10 of all-time Knicks games (604), field goals (3,742), and points (9,442) to this day. Barnett, also renowned for his All-American collegiate work at Tennessee State, made his sole All-Star Game appearance with the Knicks in 1968 and his No. 12 was retired by the team in 1990.

Other metropolitan representation on the presenters’ list includes Bob McAdoo, Tracy McGrady, and former New York Liberty player/head coach Katie Smith. McGrady and Smith will be respectively presenting Vince Carter and Michelle Timms while McAdoo has the honors for both Walter Davis and Jerry West (who will be inducted for a third time for his role as an executive).

Brief Knick Chauncey Billups is likewise entering and he will be presented by former New York head coach Larry Brown as well as WNBA legend Tina Thompson and Ben Wallace. Billups, Brown, and Wallace all collaborated on the Detroit Pistons’ last NBA championship in 2004.

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