As the playoffs get set to tip off Saturday against the Pistons, Knicks postseason hero Larry Johnson takes a shot at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby:
Q: How often have you watched your iconic 4-point play in Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers?
A: When I retired, I probably would watch it at least two or three times a week the first five, six years because it was fresh in my memory back then. And it was being shown a lot back then. I live in Manhattan, so if I’m going out to eat, this and that, at least once a day I will get mention of it.
Q: Take me back to that moment.
A: I knew I was gonna get that ball. It was like me and four guards, Allan [Houston] and Spree [Latrell Sprewell] and Charlie Ward, I believe, and Chris Childs, and me. And I wasn’t the best pick-setter on the team, to be honest with you. My picks were kinda weak. So I was supposed to set two picks and pop back to the ball. Well, by me setting not-so-good picks, once I popped back to the ball, I was the one that was open. They definitely were gonna take away Allan. And then I think it was Spree that I set a pick for, and they actually took the 3 away, so when I popped to the ball, I knew I was gonna get it, and I knew I was gonna make it. Now the free throw was a blessing because that was the worst free throw I ever shot in my life as far as form, I just kinda chunked that ball up there. I don’t know how it went in.
Q: When that shot went in with 5.7 seconds left, explain what was going on at the Garden.
A: It shook a little bit to have that many people jumping up out of their seat at one time, man. I don’t know where I was running to, don’t ask me that. I just thank God for Chris Childs. He’s a point guard, so he kept a level head and said, “No, man, you got a free throw to shoot.”
Q: How much of a difference can a rowdy Garden make for this team?
A: Half the battle is wanting to play in New York. The lights are bright on Broadway. You can say that and other teams — “Ah, whatever whatever, that’s just New York talking.” Well, you feel it when you come play here. When you come here, and you put the New York across the chest, you step on the floor, then it’s a little different. And I think all them guys on the team want to be here, they want to play with each other and they feel good with playing with each other, and that takes a lot out of it. And the crowd is behind all these guys now. That’s a big difference.
Conference Finals in 1999. New York Post
Conference Finals. New York Post
Q: What impresses you most about Jalen Brunson?
A: The whole court awareness. Of course, I played with Rick, so when I see Jalen running the floor and running the game, he’s one of the top point guards in the league, of course I’m biased, as far as the way he controls the floor from the point guard position. I’ve never been too fond of all these point guards ’cause I was a power forward, especially a point guard that shoots it all the time. I don’t want no point guard [to] shoot it more than me, but I played in older days (laugh), point guards were passing the rock. His footwork down low, it’s almost like a big man, the way he gets down there and can maneuver and get that shot off as small as he is. I think he’s a complete player.
Q: Do you have a favorite Rick Brunson story?
A: Rick kept us going ’cause he didn’t play too much, so he was the life of the party. Rick was a hard worker so I know where Jalen gets the work ethic from. He was the first at practice, the last to leave. He got that Philly mentality, so … you can ask Rick, he was better than anybody on our team.
Q: That was your mentality when you played, wasn’t it?
A: Absolutely, but I had a little credentials to back it up a little bit, too, though, you know.
playoff series against the Pacers in 1994.
Q: How would you describe your on-court mentality?
A: When I first got into the league before my back injury, I was just a monster, man. I just wanted to dunk on everybody and just overpower everybody when I had a perfect back. I was a Karl Malone fan when I was in high school and college because I was a weightlifter, so I definitely believed in being one of the strongest guys on the court. Once I had my back injury and I couldn’t just overpower anybody anymore, I had to go to the skill level, just go back to the fundamentals, left-hand, right-hand layups, make sure you keep the ball in the left hand and things like that because I couldn’t just jump over everybody. I always knew how to shoot 3-pointers, but I didn’t have the confidence to just shoot five or six 3-pointers a game.
Q: How proud are you that you were able to change your game?
A: Very proud. I pat my coaches on the back, like my high school coach, my junior high school coach, they were just all about fundamentals.
Q: What impresses you about OG Anunoby?
A: We knew how aggressive and how good he is on defense. Just that aggressiveness on offense has been good to see.
Q: Your impressions of Karl-Anthony Towns?
A: I wasn’t a big fan of 7-footers shooting 3-pointers, but if you can knock ’em down, keep shooting ’em.
Q: I’m guessing you would have loved playing with Josh Hart.
A: Of course. I’ve met Josh once or twice, and I may be a little taller, but the rebounds this guy gets is unreal. It’s awesome to watch.
Q: Thoughts on Mikal Bridges?
A: I know them guys happy to be playing with each other. When he was over there (laugh) in Brooklyn, it just seemed like he wanted to play for the Knicks. I’m just glad to see them guys back together. They have fun playing with each other.
Q: Thoughts on Tom Thibodeau?
A: Thibs was my shooting coach when he was he was assistant with Jeff [Van Gundy]. Thibs comes from that old-school era. I think it was me, Allan, when we wanted to get shots up, we’d go, “Thibs, let’s go get some shots, Thibs, let’s go get some shots.”
Q: How would you sum up what it was like being a Knick?
A: Oh, it was great. I can remember when I was with Charlotte and I would come to the Garden, I had some of my best games in the Garden. I was getting 25, 30 points a game in New York. You’re playing in front of movie stars, and your favorite rapper, and [Muhammad] Ali sitting in the stands, you didn’t get that at Charlotte (laugh). We ain’t got no Spike Lees and these guys sitting in the stands at Charlotte. They love their basketball, but it’s different when you’re sitting in front of other stars and you’re playing for them. I loved playing in MSG and playing for my Knicks, man.
Q: Jeff Van Gundy clinging to Alonzo Mourning’s leg.
A: (Laugh) Jeff is rowdy. Again, Jeff thought he could guard anybody on our team. He was trying to break it up and I think he caught a punch or something, an elbow, and just fell down. They did an interview with Jeff, and Jeff’s response was, “When you’re trying to get in between two bulls, you’re gonna get banged up.”
Q: What was it like playing for Van Gundy?
A: Coach was all about the fundamentals, man. I can remember this — I’ve never watched as much film as I watched in my basketball career til I got here. I mean, it was a tape a day. Either it was a tape of practice, a tape of the game, or the team we’re about to play. With Jeff, it was all about the small things. I remember playing against Miami in the playoffs, and Indiana in the playoffs, another big rivalry, when they would call a play, whoever I was guarding, I would run to their position before they even got there.
Q: Converse was the start of Grandmama.
A: They just wanted to do something different. They did not want to do an ordinary basketball shoe commercial, a guy dunking the ball in a basketball uniform. It took off. Big black guy in a dress and a wig. I ain’t got no acting abilities, but I can fake it. I believe Grandmama even made it to the Super Bowl. We did a commercial for the Super Bowl. My mom enjoyed it, after a while I enjoyed it.
Q: Your favorite Tark [Jerry Tarkanian] story?
A: The year we [UNLV] won the national championship, 1990, was my first year there, and people don’t know this but Sports Illustrated and a lot of the big-time sports magazines and all that had us ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the year. I’m just coming in with a big head and chest sticking out, and I remember first practice, I think I was lallygagging or talking and playing around too much, and man, coach Tark put me out of practice first practice we had. I said, “Man, this dude’s crazy.”
Q: Beating Duke to win the 1990 NCAA championship?
A: We beat teams with defense, and it started with Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt. Walter Payton, who I was a big fan of, was a big UNLV fan. Sweetness was such a cool dude and mellow dude, but he was a UNLV fan, and coach Tark had him come into the locker room before the game and gave us a little pep talk.
Q: Which was a more painful loss — losing to Duke in the 1991 Final Four or losing in the 1999 NBA Finals to the Spurs as a Knick?
A: They were both painful. I would say the Duke game because in the league, it’s a series, we had a lot of heart, but it was an uphill battle once Patrick [Ewing] didn’t play. You’re playing against two 7-footers [Tim Duncan and David Robinson] and they’re both gonna be future Hall of Famers, which they’re Hall of Famers now, but we needed our 7-foot Hall of Famer to play at least that game, but Patrick got hurt in the series before. The Duke game, we were supposed to win, we just had that off night at that point. And that is Duke, who had some great players at that time.
Q: Was there a better trash talker in the league than you?
A: Absolutely. We had a lot of those. Gary Payton could get down, we heard about The Glove a lot. Most of the guys when we played back then, the trash talking was when you could back it up. Michael Jordan would talk as much stuff as anybody. My first game in the NBA was against Larry Bird. It was one of those stories where Larry Bird put it in his left hand, shot it over me and like, “Young fella, you ain’t seen that before.”
Q: Would you say you were on the NBA All-Trash Talk Team?
A: Yeah, I could definitely be top 5, top 10.
Q: Winning a gold medal with Dream Team II?
A: (Laugh) We had some characters on our team. Dream Team I just walked out on the court and beat guys. Japan, or whoever they played, they’re out there trying to get autographs from those guys. Wasn’t nobody trying to get no autographs from us (laugh). Everybody we played was like, “Oh, we can beat them, we can beat them.” We had more to prove than those guys, I think.
Q: Did you ever think about pursuing football?
A: Yes, of course, I’m from Texas, I’m from Dallas. I tell people this all the time, if you grew up in Texas during my era, your fifth birthday you got a whole Dallas Cowboys uniform. I stopped like my ninth grade year because I was way better in basketball.
Pistons in January 2014. Charles Wenzelberg
Q: Did you have a favorite Cowboy?
A: I’m an old head, so it was the Preston Pearsons, the Drew Pearsons. I can remember I got a dishwashing job, it was a big chain pizza restaurant, I used to have to take two buses to get there, but I was only working for like four hours and I think I was getting $100, $150 a week, and it was pretty good money back then. Drew Pearson walked in one time, I think I saw Danny White walk in once … I can remember Drew Pearson had a to-go order, and I walked out there, he shook my hand, he was cool with me and everything. I sat on the plane with Roger Staubach one time, I was at UNLV, so he was like, “Man, so proud of you, I remember hearing about you in high school.” I was a big, big fan of them guys.
Q: Green Bay Park?
A: My first dunk, my first everything! That was it, that was where I got started. I’d be out there 2, 3 in the morning.
Q: You made it out of a tough South Dallas neighborhood.
A: Project, ghetto neighborhood, drugs everywhere … his name was Tiny ’cause he was the smallest in his family, he was a great athlete, he was probably like four years older than me. But he was my friend, man, we played Pop Warner football together, and I went to try out for the Olympics. He knew I was going to try out for the Olympics, but he became a drug dealer. And man, I had like $10. I’m gonna go to Colorado Springs for a week, I got like $10. And man, Tiny came up and gave me $500. He said, “Man, bring back a T-shirt.” And when I got back, Tiny was gone, Tiny was gone — Tiny had got shot and killed.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Richard Pryor; Bruce Lee; Muhammad Ali.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “A Raisin in the Sun.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Sidney Poitier.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Diana Ross.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Richard Pryor.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Chicken and rice.
Q: The key to the Pistons series?
A: Those Pistons, man, towards the end of the season they were playing just as well as anybody. For us, it’s just playing together, home-court advantage. I’m proud of that, but those guys have played together, they love playing with each other, their chemistry is great, so they just continue that and we should be OK.
Q: Your message to these Knicks?
A: Don’t change what you’ve done all year and stay focused. Keep playing for each other. And keep playing hard. I think they got the right format, they got the right game plan. I love what I’m seeing.
Q: If they beat the Pistons, is there any scenario that they could beat the Celtics?
A: Absolutely. You gotta play the game, man. We know how they look and we know what happened during the regular season. Playoffs is a whole different story, and it’s hard to keep beating teams like that. Yeah absolutely, absolutely they can beat them.
Q: Your message to Knicks fans?
A: When I go to the games, most of the time I’ll be in a suite up top. And I’ve been back working for MSG for about 15, 16 years now — 10, 15 years ago, I would be at the game working 25 minutes before the game, and the stands would be empty. Now, it’s 20 minutes before the game, 30 minutes before the game, everybody’s in their seats, man. The fans have really stood up for these guys. They’re good guys on and off the court and they play hard and they play together. If I was never like a Knicks player and all that, I would enjoy watching these guys play, and I would pull for these guys.
Q: Describe the atmosphere you expect at the Garden for these playoffs.
A: They’re gonna be hype, especially if they give me and John Starks and these guys sitting on the front row, ’cause John is this old AAU uncle, man, we gotta hold him back. It’s fun trying to hold him back, and he gets the whole crowd into it. Madison Square Garden front row is not stars sitting down being cute. They love being rowdy. And they’re pulling for this team. It’s gonna be exciting, man. I just hope Detroit’s ready, or whoever’s coming in here to play, ’cause it’s gonna be a different Garden.
