New York Knicks: A look back at the beginning of the fall from grace

Marcus Camby’s year is just the absolute worst

On January 15, 2001, Marcus Camby was involved in an on-court altercation with Danny Ferry of the San Antonio Spurs that resulted in a five-game suspension, a $25,000 fine and $345,000 in lost salary. Not to mention 12-15 stitches for Jeff Van Gundy who was accidentally hit by Camby when he tried to separate the two players.

Several members of the Knicks organization expressed surprise at the severity of the decision pointing to other disciplinary action taken by the league that season that was a lot more lenient.

Anytime a player gets a suspension of any length, you already know that season is likely not going to go down as one of their best. But the suspension would end up being, by far, the least traumatic event of Camby’s year.

On April 23, 2001, just a day after Game 1 of the Knicks’ first-round playoff series with the Raptors, Camby’s mother and two sisters were kidnapped and held at knifepoint by an ex-boyfriend of one of the sisters. The situation was resolved after eight hours and resulted in the need for his 21-year-old sister to be taken to the hospital for stitches to her head and treatment of cuts on her hands.

It’s the kind of thing that no one could ever predict and one of the few elements of the Knicks’  struggles that cannot be attributed to the organization in any way. Also, most importantly, this is the kind of situation that puts into perspective just how many things in the world are way more serious than winning basketball games.

But talk about an event that would throw off a guy’s game. Camby would score only 2 points in the following game, didn’t play Game 3, and scored 6 points in Game 4 before showing signs recovering with 11 points in Game 5. But by then, New York’s season was over.

Keep an eye out for part two of this series where we’ll catch up with the Knicks starting in the 2001-02 season.