Blood in the Garden

The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks

By: Chris Herring

Narrated by: Brian Hutchison

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A SELECTION ON BARACK OBAMA’S SUMMER READING LIST

The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit.

For nearly an entire generation, the New York Knicks have been a laughingstock franchise. Since 2001, they’ve spent more money, lost more games, and won fewer playoff series than any other NBA team.

But during the preceding era, the Big Apple had a club it was madly in love with—one that earned respect not only by winning, but through brute force. The Knicks were always looking for fights, often at the encouragement of Pat Riley. They fought opposing players. They fought each other. Hell, they even occasionally fought their own coaches.

The NBA didn’t take kindly to their fighting spirit. Within two years, league officials moved to alter several rules to stop New York from turning its basketball games into bloody mudwrestling matches. Nevertheless, as the 1990s progressed, the Knicks endeared themselves to millions of fans; not for how much they won, but for their colorful cast of characters and their hardworking mentality.

Now, through his original reporting and interviews with more than two hundred people, author Chris Herring delves into the origin, evolution, and eventual demise of the iconic club. He takes us inside the locker room, executive boardrooms, and onto the court for the key moments that lifted the club to new heights, and the ones that threatened to send everything crashing down in spectacular fashion.

Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA’s golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.

Great book, horrible performance.

Chris Herring did a great job cataloguing they 90’s New York Knicks. My only criticism is that I could’ve used a bit more discussion of Charles Oakley.

HOWEVER, the narrator does a horrible job.
I’m sorry to criticize a performer this harshly, but it really felt like he was completely unprepared. He took pauses in the middle of sentences when there was no comma and would put emphasis on the wrong words, in such a way that it sometimes took me a while to understand what the sentence was saying. It really felt like he was just unprepared.

Very reveling story!

This book reveled a lot of information that I didn't know about the sports team. It's like you get a behind the scenes perspective about how they operated and why they didn't go farther. The author provided great details about their journey.

Great narrative.

Storytelling was top notch. Addressed nuances that both reminded me of that golden era. I am grateful.

Must reas or hear if a Knicks fan .

Amazing book on the history of the 90s knicks . If you weren't around this explains it all.

Incredible

A must read for every Knicks fan bleeding the orange and blue. An inside look of the 90’s Knicks culture with details Coach Riley, Ewing, Mason, Smith, Oakley and much more.