New York Knicks

Few names in sports go back further into American history than the New York Knicks. Officially the Knickerbockers, the name comes from the Dutch settlers who founded New Amsterdam in the 1600s — the colony that would later become New York. “Knickerbockers” was an old nickname for New Yorkers of Dutch descent, popularised by Washington Irving in the 1809 satire A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker. By the 19th century, “Knicks” had become shorthand for old New York families, the kind who had arrived when the city was still a trading post at the mouth of the Hudson.

The Dutch imprint on New York runs deep. They were the ones who built New Amsterdam in 1624, laying out streets that still twist through lower Manhattan today. In 1664, the English seized it and renamed it New York, after the Duke of York, but the Dutch influence lingered in food, architecture, and culture. Even doughnuts have Dutch roots — the settlers made “olykoeks” (oil cakes), balls of fried dough that evolved into the modern doughnut, as New York’s immigrants reshaped the recipe. Naming the Knicks after those first Dutch New Yorkers tied basketball in the modern metropolis to its colonial foundations.

That sense of history matched the city’s growth. From a Dutch trading post, New York became a port that connected Europe to America and America to the world. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the financial and shipping capital of the United States, its harbour filled with immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. At the same time, New York was redefining what a modern city could look like. The great age of skyscrapers — the Flatiron Building (1902), the Chrysler Building (1930), the Empire State Building (1931) — transformed Manhattan into a skyline of steel and ambition. The Knicks, founded in 1946, came to represent this metropolis in the same way the Yankees did on the diamond: the city’s team, carrying the swagger of skyscrapers and the grit of its streets.

On the court, the Knicks’ history has been as towering and as turbulent as the city itself. They were one of the original Basketball Association of America (BAA) franchises, and one of only two (along with the Celtics) that still play in their original city. They reached the NBA Finals three times in the early 1950s, but their golden era came in the 1970s, with Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. The team won NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, marked by Reed’s famous limping appearance in Game 7 of the ’70 Finals — one of the most iconic moments in basketball history.

Since then, the Knicks’ fortunes have been mixed. The 1990s brought a new era of pride and toughness, with Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Charles Oakley battling through bruising playoff series, especially against Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Reggie Miller’s Pacers. Madison Square Garden became the stage not just for basketball but for New York itself — celebrities in the front row, diehards in the cheap seats, the whole city watching under the world’s brightest lights.

Madison Square Garden, now in its fourth incarnation, is the Knicks’ home and one of the world’s most famous arenas. It takes its name from the original venue built in 1879 near Madison Square Park. Though it has since moved locations — the current Garden sits above Penn Station — the name stuck. More than a basketball court, it’s a cultural temple: home to historic boxing matches, concerts from Sinatra to Beyoncé, political conventions, and the roar of Knicks fans who treat it as basketball’s mecca.

The Knicks’ badge reflects both modernity and heritage. The wordmark “KNICKS” stands bold in orange and blue — colours taken directly from New York’s flag, itself rooted in Dutch heraldry. The triangle and basketball evoke both strength and clarity, a modern logo with a nod to old-world symbols.

The New York Knicks are more than a basketball team. They are the spirit of Dutch New Amsterdam, the trading hub that became New York, the city of doughnuts and skyscrapers, Wall Street and Harlem, Ellis Island and Madison Square Garden. Their badge isn’t just about basketball — it’s about the city that made basketball global.