Knicks Anthony Mason Ultimate Tribute | With Interviews

Knicks Anthony Mason Ultimate Tribute | With Interviews

and out of all the schools you play Tennessee State why Tennessee State honest reason it was 8 to one chicks Oakley uh Mason uh guys like that you Mason you know for a big guy I’m pretty sure he’s the strongest and certainly he moves his feet very well and Anthony Mason was one of the most beloved and respected New York Knicks players in the franchise’s history unfortunately he’s not with us anymore more Mason passed away in February 2015 due to a heart condition he was 48 years old the Knicks and his fans miss him greatly and I thought he deserves an amazing tribute this is my goal with this video rest in peace Anthony Mason now let’s look at Anthony Mason and the hard-nosed player that he was I’m not going to get into Mason’s early days maybe in another video this will just be about his Knicks and NBA days overall let’s go Anthony Mason attended Tennessee State University and out of all the schools you picked Tennessee State why Tennessee State honest reason it was 8 to1 chicks I believe it was 8 to1 chicks then you had Fisk University up the block that was about 13 to1 so I went down there and I you know you don’t know about the south so everybody speaking to you and say hey how you doing I’m like oh she like me d and was drafted to the NBA by the Portland Tre Blazers in the third round of the 1988 NBA draft as a 53rd pick he was shortly cut afterwards you know what’s funny about that I didn’t get cut I left I went overseas you know I want to take care of my mother and you know at that time going third round nothing was guaranteed and I felt like going overseas the money was guaranteed and I knew I would continue to work and try to bring myself back to this side so left with a guaranteed money played for a Turkish Club fs pilson and marinos de oriente in Venezuela he had a brief stint with the New Jersey Nets in 8990 but it never stuck he averaged 1.8 points per game for the Nets he was a young player and played on a bad team the Nets decided not to resign him he played 26 games for the CBA Tulsa fast breakers and there he played and got time he averaged a crazy 29.9 points and 14.8 rebounds in that only I don’t know if you look at as unfortunate or whichever way you look at it because I think every step I took was a blessing so I said if you play in the CBA or the or the D-League now which is under the NBA I said for you to prove to them that you belong on the next level you have to dominate you can’t fit in I see a lot of players going down there with a lot of talent and they fit in they just comfortable being one of the guys I said you got to stand out you know I was late label beast of the East and uh when I went somewhere and came back the Beast returns and all that you know every 30 and 15 and I mean I showed them that I was trying to get to the next level and that’s what you got to do down there but every night in the CBA somebody was trying to go to the NBA after the CBA stint he would sign with the Denver Nuggets but was released after just 20 days averaging 3.3 points per game after all of that Mason would sign up for the Knicks summer league roster before the 19 1992 season and played well enough to earn himself a spot Mason was embraced by the Knicks and especially Pat Riley from the start I used to play in the Maurice Stokes game which was a a charity game that in case you know uh retired NBA players fell on an unfortunate time they would raise money and try to help out the families if they ever got sick or whatever the case may be I was playing uh on the team and Paul Silas was coaching you need to be up there with us and at that time getting cut you know from Jersey when I I thought I was one of the best players there um I didn’t believe in the NBA no more I was like yeah whatever you’re like serious you should give it a shot we got six open contracts here you know we only got six guaranteed we got six of I said yeah whatever whatever I was like I’m going and get that little money that they pay you know go to training camp and then I end up with a great coach and you know Pat Riley who who was legendary that didn’t care what school you went to didn’t care what your name was he just cared that you could play and I got my opportunity so you know that’s the the rest was history that first year with the Knicks he played all 82 games without starting a single one which earned him most minutes played that season by a non-starter he played him 31 minutes in the season opener and Mason averaged 26.8 minutes per game his first year with the Knicks goto guy oh Mason for the wild shot Anthony Mason he averaged seven points and seven boards that first year he played Mason was a beast on the court and battled ferociously with anyone that was put in front of him here is Shaquille O’Neal mentioning Mason by name as he talks about the hardest team and players he ever had to play against well there was a lot of guys that was that was real tough a lot of guys that were real strong mostly mostly the Knicks guys they were they were the they were the toughest guys Oakley uh uh guys like that we’re not playing nobody else’s game we’re playing Nick basketball we’re up in your face you’re going to feel our presence no layups you know we imposed our will and that’s what you could look at the Knicks and say that’s their identity there’s not going to be no layups there’s not going to be no easy baskets Shaq respects Mason as Mason even though he was undersized and weighed less never backed down from O’Neal in the post or on the boards Mason had plenty of back battles against the Chicago Bulls and took part in eliminating the Bulls although without MJ to help the Knicks get to the NBA finals in 1994 Mason was a pest on defense and offense for Michael and the Bulls even after he left the Knicks and played for the Hornets he was even getting under the skin of Dennis Rodman and usually it’s the other way around after Mason passed even Michael Jordan himself released a statement on Mason’s death Jordan said I’m deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Anthony Mason mace was one of the toughest competitors of his era while on the Hornets he was beloved by fans throughout the Carolinas for his hard-nosed play and skill on the court the Hornets organization extend its condolences to his entire family in the 1994 NBA Finals Mason was tasked to sometimes defend one of the best and most skilled centers the NBA has ever seen in aim aluan he held his own and made it hard for the dream but at that time in his career no player in the NBA was able to stop AE even Shaq got embarrassed the next year in the NBA Finals when Houston won the title and swept the Orlando Magic after they beat the Knicks the year previous Mason was undersized for these top centers but always gave them a very difficult time and never backed away from anyone he was was lightning quick on his feet as well he was able to defend Michael Jordan and body him to make it difficult you am you know for a big guy I’m pretty sure he’s the strongest and certainly he moves his feet very well and you know I had to use my quickness a little bit a couple of times but for the most part he played me very solid he was getting under Vince Carter’s skin as well while Carter was still in Toronto all this shows you the unbelievable versatility of Mason that he was able B to play any position Anthony Mason was a true tough guy he was a warrior he embodied New York toughness he never gave up on his dream and persevered to achieve his ultimate goal of playing in the NBA let me just show you a little bit of how good Anthony Mason was by showing you a short compilation of some of his highlights in today’s NBA this guy would be an Allstar every single season probably a defensive player the year as well the guy looked like an offensive Juggernaut on occasion and had handles that were better than most point guards at that time damn his handles are better than LeBron James yes I said that and I stand by it now let me mention one more thing here Mason was a great basketball player Mason was different by being a great son to his mother and teaching valuable lessons to his son before he passed here’s a little story about Mason told by his son listen up he challenged me a lot um can imagine yeah um I would jump into college my sophomore year going into my junior year um we worked on so much like physically but he would push me to like another level like when we like he had me doing sprints and he would say like do 10 and at that time that was when the NBA lockout was so we were able to go to the Knicks facility so now I’m running on a huge NBA court getting more fatigue and you know we already worked out now he had me doing sprints and I thought I was done so now I’m shooting free throws and he was like you know what do two more and I did two more had to hit free throws you know what do two more and he just kept pushing me and seeing if I would I would crack or if I would quit and I never did he actually start laughing cuz he kept making me do it he was like do it for your grandmother do it for her your other grandmother do it for her your mom do it for me and then he was like do it for yourself and by the time he said do it for yourself I thought I was running but if somebody had the camera I was probably looking like I was walking I I was trying to run as fast as I can but he was was actually I could hear him laughing I got down there tired made the free throws and he said you know what I know you’re never going to quit uh he said I just pushed you to seeing how far you can go I know you never going to quit and uh it was things like that he would challenge me off the court on the court just things seeing if I if it would rattle me or if I would you know but I would keep in mind that all right you can do it you can do it I’m competitive so I get that from both of my parents they’re both competitive so I hope you enjoyed this video and I suggest watching this one next where Michael Jordan and another Nicks great Charles Oakley talk about today’s players approach to the game and explain why they would not have the patience to coach

#knicks #newyorkknicks #Anthonymason
Anthony Mason was one of the most Popular New York Knicks players in the history of the Franchise. Celebrate the legacy of Anthony Mason with this ultimate tribute video of the Knicks Great, featuring exclusive interview and highlights.

Thank You very much to The Eddie Mata Show for allowing me to use clips from his old Anthony Mason Interview. Please make sure to visit his Channel for more great content.
https://www.youtube.com/@UCDLIMxeedMxhB0tGQ-MMFUQ