Walsh Faces Rebuilding Job With Knicks
Here’s a quick résumé for Donnie Walsh, decision maker: He said no to Richard Nixon. And yes to Reggie Miller.
Both calls worked out for the Bronx-born Walsh, introduced Wednesday at Madison Square Garden as the new president of the Knicks. The native son - Donnie from the Block, you might say - is excited about leading his beleaguered hometown team, after two decades with the Indiana Pacers.
“We take a lot of pride in coming from New York as players and basketball people,” Walsh said in a raspy voice betraying his Riverdale roots. “For a native New Yorker, this is the perfect fit.”
In 1965, Walsh rejected an offer to work in Nixon’s Manhattan law firm, sticking instead with the sport he loved.
Twenty-two years later, his reputation for a keen eye for talent was sealed with his choice of scrawny sharpshooter Miller in the NBA draft. The dentist’s son was the oldest of five Walsh kids and a gym rat from an early age, often dribbling beneath a street light on the court at St. Gabriel’s elementary school.
Walsh became an all-city guard at Fordham Prep, making varsity as a sophomore and leading his team in scoring for three years.
As a senior captain, he averaged more than 25 points a game - and then joined coach Frank McGuire, a fellow New Yorker, at North Carolina. Although drafted by the NBA, Walsh stayed at Chapel Hill to earn a law degree, only to opt for the court over the courtroom and join McGuire’s staff in South Carolina.
The 67-year-old New Yorker’s interests stretch beyond the foul lines: He’s a student of Eastern philosophy and meditates daily.
He’s also a workaholic held in high regard around the league for moves like the Miller pick. In 1987, one year after becoming the Pacers’ general manager, the pressure was on Walsh to draft local hero Steve Alford out of Indiana. He opted instead for UCLA guard Reggie Miller. Walsh was booed by the fans. He shrugged, and watched Miller develop into a certain Hall of Famer.
New kid in town
Walsh’s first meeting with the New York media showed no lack of self-confidence, and a glimpse of dry wit. High school classmate Bruce Bott wasn’t surprised.
“It’s great for New York City to have Donnie Walsh here,” Bott said. “He’s such a great person and yes, he’s a hometown kid.”
New York basketball guru Tom Konchalski called Walsh a consummate New Yorker.
“He still has a lot of New York friends; still has that New York street savvy,” Konchalski said. “He may have gone to the South and the Midwest, but he still has that New York heart.”
Walsh was 14 when introduced to a 12-year-old Bronx neighbor, Judy McNamara - his future wife. The two neighborhood kids are still married, with five children and five grandchildren. Read more..
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