Since James Dolan took over ownership of the Knicks in 1999, six men have run the team’s basketball operations, including Steve Mills twice. Here’s the gory rundown:
Scott Layden (1999-2003)
After a surprise run to the NBA Finals under Jeff Van Gundy as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season (50 games), Layden was hired in August 1999 to replace interim GM Ed Tapscott, who had taken over after Ernie Grunfeld was fired in April. (Tapscott infamously drafted French first-round bust Frederic Weis that June.)
In the first year under Layden, a former Jazz executive, the Knicks made the Eastern Conference finals, but his tenure mostly is remembered for Van Gundy’s abrupt resignation, the late-career trade of Patrick Ewing to Seattle and cap-crippling deals for oft-injured forward Antonio McDyess and high-salaried guards Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley.