Honestly, if you ask any die-hard fan about the 2014 New York Knicks season, you’ll probably see them wince. It was a weird, transitional, and ultimately heartbreaking stretch of basketball that basically served as the "point of no return" for the Carmelo Anthony era. We came into that year with such high hopes. Seriously. The team had just won 54 games the year prior. They were the second seed in the East! People actually thought the Knicks were back.
Then the wheels didn't just fall off; they disintegrated.
The 2013-14 campaign ended with a 37-45 record. It was the first time in four years the team missed the playoffs, and looking back, it’s clear the front office was trying to build a skyscraper on a foundation of sand. You had a roster that was getting older by the second and a defensive scheme under Mike Woodson that seemed to have been figured out by the rest of the league overnight.
What Went Wrong with the 2014 New York Knicks Season?
It started with the Tyson Chandler injury. He was the anchor. When he went down early with a fractured fibula, the entire defensive identity evaporated. The Knicks were relying on a "switch everything" defense that only works if you have a Defensive Player of the Year candidate cleaning up messes at the rim. Without him? It was a layup line for opposing guards.
And let’s talk about the J.R. Smith situation.
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Coming off a Sixth Man of the Year award, J.R. was supposed to be the secondary engine. Instead, he struggled with efficiency and, well, those weird moments where he kept trying to untie opponents' shoelaces during free throws. It sounds like a joke now, but it was symptomatic of a team that lacked discipline. They were talented, sure. But they weren't serious.
The Melo Paradox
Carmelo Anthony actually had an incredible individual year. He averaged 27.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. He even dropped 62 points on the Charlotte Bobcats in January, which remains one of the most electric nights in Madison Square Garden history. I remember watching that game and thinking, "Okay, maybe they can turn this around."
But they couldn't.
The 2014 New York Knicks season showed the limitations of a one-man offense. When Melo sat, the scoring dried up. Raymond Felton was struggling with his conditioning and off-court legal issues, and Iman Shumpert hadn't taken the leap everyone expected after his ACL recovery. Andrea Bargnani—the big "splash" trade from the Toronto Raptors—was a disaster. He was supposed to provide floor spacing, but he ended up being a defensive liability who took some of the most head-scratching shots you’ve ever seen. That infamous attempted dunk against the 76ers where he just... fell? That was the season in a nutshell.
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The Phil Jackson Shadow
By March, everyone knew a change was coming. James Dolan decided to throw $60 million at Phil Jackson to become the President of Basketball Operations. This was the "Zen Master" returning to save the franchise he played for in the 70s.
It felt like a savior moment, but in reality, it just created a "lame duck" atmosphere for Mike Woodson. The players knew the coach was gone at the end of the year. The fans knew it. The media definitely knew it. It’s hard to win games in the NBA when the person running the team is already looking at real estate in Montana.
Jackson’s arrival signaled the beginning of the Triangle Offense era, which—spoiler alert—didn't exactly fit the modern NBA. But during the final month of the 2014 New York Knicks season, there was this weird, desperate push. They won eight games in a row in March. For a split second, it looked like they might sneak into the eighth seed. Then they lost a heartbreaker to Cleveland and got smoked by Miami. Season over.
The Numbers That Actually Matter
If you look at the advanced stats, the Knicks weren't actually the worst team in the league, which somehow made it feel worse. They were 11th in Offensive Rating but 24th in Defensive Rating. You can't win in New York if you don't defend. Period.
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They also had zero luck. They lost so many close games in the final two minutes. Amar'e Stoudemire was actually having a decent "resurgence" toward the end of the year, showing flashes of his old self, but his knees were a ticking time bomb. The roster was a patchwork quilt of "past their prime" stars and "not quite there yet" role players.
- Carmelo Anthony's Usage: It was through the roof. He played 38.7 minutes per game.
- The Bargnani Trade: Giving up a first-round pick for Andrea Bargnani is still cited by cap experts as one of the worst moves of that decade.
- The Atlantic Division: The Knicks finished third, behind Toronto and Brooklyn.
People forget that the 2013-14 Nets were the "superteam" experiment with Garnett and Pierce. The Knicks were trying to keep up with their neighbors across the river, and both teams ended up overpaying for names instead of fit.
Moving Forward From the 2014 New York Knicks Season
If you're looking to understand the modern Knicks, you have to look at 2014 as the cautionary tale. It taught the front office—eventually—that you can't skip steps. You can't just trade picks for aging shooters and expect a championship.
What you should do if you're a fan or a student of the game:
- Watch the Melo 62-point game: It's a masterclass in scoring variety. Even in a losing season, that was pure art.
- Study the Bargnani trade impact: It's a perfect lesson in why "fit" matters more than "potential" when you're dealing with established veterans.
- Appreciate the current era: Compare the discipline of the Tom Thibodeau years to the chaos of 2014. The difference is night and day.
The 2014 New York Knicks season was the end of an era. It was the last time for a long time that the Knicks felt like they were "all in," even if they were betting on the wrong hand. It led to the drafting of Kristaps Porzingis a year later and a total teardown of the roster. If you want to understand why Leon Rose and the current front office are so protective of their draft picks now, just look at the empty cupboards Jackson and Woodson were dealing with back then.
History is a teacher, and 2014 was a very expensive lesson.