The incident Xavier McDaniel and Anthony Mason on the day of practice.

When discussing some of the strongest and hardest players to ever grace the NBA hardwood, Anthony Mason and Xavier McDaniel must be mentioned.
Mason and McDaniel sparred on the first day of practice.
Mason would flip and squarely strike McDaniel in the jaw, resulting in an all-out brawl 15 minutes into Riley’s first session.

Table of Contents

Herring covers the narrative of the New York Knicks in the 1990s.

The New York Knicks in the 1990s were a unique narrative.

Although they never won it all, their two Finals appearances and several playoff runs,

along with a team full of bright and unusual individuals, resulted in innumerable incredible stories.

Chris Herring recently published his book “Blood in the Garden,” which details the inner workings of those Knicks squads.

Herring shared one of the book’s opening anecdotes when promoting his book on the No Dunks Podcast the other day,

which really set the tone for the rest of the read.

Of course, Mason and McDaniel sparred on the first day of practice.

Pat Riley’s first season as head coach of the New York Knicks did not start well.

The New York Knicks were getting ready for the season at a practice facility in Charleston, South Carolina.

The weather was oppressively hot outside, and the atmosphere in the gym began to boil in every sense of the term.

Mason, McDaniel, and a rookie would be put through a box-out exercise.

If you don’t have any basketball experience, it’s just ramming with no limitations until you gain a position and a rebound—a very psychical drill.

X was winning the exercise but tripped over his opponent.

grew tired of it and shouted out McDaniel, warning him that if he continued, he would “F him up!”

But, being the character that he is, Xavier didn’t seem to mind and resumed his tripping.

Mason would flip and squarely strike McDaniel in the jaw, resulting in an all-out brawl 15 minutes into Riley’s first session.

That moment encapsulated the Knicks’ identity for the rest of the decade.

McDaniel would only stay in New York for one season, posting 13.7 ppg and 5.6 RPG before joining the Celtics the next season.

Mason, on the other hand, spent a much longer time as a Knick,

establishing himself in the league over the course of five seasons before becoming a one-time All-Star later in his career.

The 1992 Knicks enjoyed a fantastic season, but it wasn’t enough to upset Jordan and the Bulls

in the Eastern Conference Finals, as they were eliminated in six games.

As previously stated, this was Pat Riley’s first game in New York,

and it couldn’t have been a better picture of how the Knicks would appear throughout the 1990s.

Talented and troublesome. However, it is a lot of fun to see. Knicks basketball was in a different era back then.