After nearly three decades, the New York Knicks are finally looking at a real shot at an NBA title.
The Knicks rolled past the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night to officially complete the series sweep and earn a trip to the NBA Finals. That’s something the Knicks haven’t pulled off since the 1998-99 season, a full 27 years ago.
While their opponent isn’t solidified yet — the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are tied up 2-2 in the Western Conference finals — a lot has changed since the Knicks were last in this spot. Many of the things we take for granted today didn’t exist yet.
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Almost all of social media
Social media wasn’t really a thing in 1999. There was instant messaging — remember AOL Instant Messenger? — but that was about it. Myspace didn’t launch until August 2003, and Facebook started in February of 2004. Twitter started in 2006, and Instagram didn’t come until 2010. Vine launched and shut down in that window, and TikTok wasn’t released internationally until 2017.
Yahoo Sports wasn’t even two years old during the 1999 Finals. The internet was a very, very different place.
Survivor, American Idol and TV in general
The run of popular reality competition-style shows that dominated the 2000s and early 2010s hadn’t hit the airwaves yet. “Survivor,” which just completed its 50th season this spring, was still almost a year out from its first ever episode. “American Idol” came out in June 2002, and “America’s Got Talent” didn’t start until 2006.
And while it had made its debut, MTV’s “Total Request Live” wasn’t even a year old the last time the Knicks were in the Finals. “Sopranos” had just finished its first season, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” with Regis Philbin had just started, and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” a show that is now preparing for its 28th season, was still months away from making its debut.
The iPhone, and the BlackBerry
The first iPhone didn’t come out until January 2007, long after the Knicks’ last Finals run. Apps, games and social media like we have today simply didn’t exist. Cameras weren’t even a thing on phones back then. Those who did have phones almost exclusively used them for talking and very, very basic texting.
The first BlackBerry devices had hit the market a few months before the Knicks’ last Finals appearance, but it wasn’t even an actual phone yet. It was more like a two-way pager with email. The first BlackBerry that was able to work like an actual phone didn’t come until 2002.
Half of the Knicks’ current roster
Let’s get back to basketball. Half of the Knicks’ current roster wasn’t even alive the last time that the team reached the Finals.
Of the 18 players currently on the Knicks, nine of them were born after the 1998-99 season had wrapped up. The youngest player, Pacôme Dadiet, wasn’t born until 2005. This group is young.
The oldest player on the current Knicks probably doesn’t even remember the 1999 team, either. Jordan Clarkson was only seven when the Knicks were last in the Finals.
NBA 2K
The original NBA 2K video game was still months away from hitting shelves at this point in time, too, though video gaming in general was something limited to computers, the PlayStation or the Nintendo 64. The first XBox came out in 2001, a good six years after the PS1.
Allen Iverson was the very first cover athlete for the initial 2K game, which was something made only for the Sega Dreamcast. The Philadelphia 76ers star and future Hall of Famer was entering his fourth season in the league at that point, and was still looking for his first All-Star nod.
While that version of the game wouldn’t even come close to NBA 2K26 that’s out today, it did set the standard for NBA video games. Imagine how much fun that must have been to have back in 1999.