Anthony Mason recently passed away. He left far too soon. Mason had a long, storied career in the NBA. Looking at his numbers revealed an amazing and underrated part of the Knicks and NBA history.
An "auspicious" beginning
Anthony Mason was old school. He was selected in the third round of the NBA draft. You know, the round that doesn't exist anymore. Although the Blazers selected him, he never suited up for a game. The New Jersey Nets gave him a shot. In 21 games, he played horrendously for them and wasn't invited back. Then, the Nuggets signed him to two ten-day contracts. In three games and twenty minutes, Mason gave us a glimpse of his potential. He played very well on a per-minute basis. In his last game as a Nugget, he scored seven points and pulled down a rebound against the Knicks. Maybe this was enough to convince them he deserved a shot. The Nuggets let Mason go and continued to be a mediocre franchise with a little reprieve thanks to Dikembe Mutombo. Mason though? He made the Knicks something special.
The Knicks MVP
Anthony's impact was immediate. The previous season the Knicks had a losing record and were swept by the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Anthony Mason's 9.4 points on 55.8% True Shooting to go with 9.4 rebounds a game helped the Knicks to a 51 win season. The Knicks made it to the second round of the playoffs, before falling to the Bulls in seven. The Knicks would get better every season, and Anthony Mason as well. They eventually made it to the finals in 1994, before losing in a heartbreaking seven-game series.
After the Knicks had made the Finals, Anthony Mason got better. He led the Knicks in wins in both the 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 seasons. In fact, in 1996 Anthony Mason was right behind Michael Jordan in Wins Produced for the season! Of course, his timing was off. Thanks to an aging Oakley and Ewing, the Knicks declined from their peak. The Knicks decided to "upgrade" and traded Mason for Larry Johnson. While Johnson was a productive player, he was not as good as Mason. The Knicks real problem was an aged Patrick Ewing. Another underrated big would get the Knicks to the Finals once more before the Ewing era ended, and the Dolan era began at least.
The Star Journeyman
On Charlotte Mason kept up his stellar play. He played three seasons for the Hornets from 1997-2000 (he sat out 1998-1999 due to injury), before being unceremoniously traded again. In Miami, he had his last "great" season producing 11.6 wins in over 3,000 minutes of play. The Heat won 50 games, before losing to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
An Impressive Career
Mason ended his career quietly in Milwaukee. He left behind an impressive legacy though. Let's review:
| Team | Seasons | Wins/Season | WP48 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knicks | 1992-1996 | 10.6 | 0.202 |
| Hornets | 1997-2000 | 13.0 | 0.198 |
| Heat | 2001 | 11.6 | 0.171 |
That's three different teams that he averaged over ten wins a season with! With the Knicks and Hornets, he played at star level. With the Heat, he still played great. And, as I mentioned, all of these teams hit 50 wins at some point! Mason's performance was simple to explain as well:
| Team | Points/G | TS% | Rebounds/G | Assist/G | Turnover/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knicks | 9.9 | 57.4% | 7.7 | 2.6 | 1.7 |
| Hornets | 13.4 | 56.7% | 10.0 | 4.8 | 2.0 |
| Heat | 16.1 | 55.5% | 9.6 | 3.1 | 2.2 |
Mason's game was very meat and potatoes. He scored over ten points a game on efficient shooting. He grabbed rebounds, passed the ball and didn't turn the ball over either. When a player is very good at a specific skill (read points) it's very obvious. When a player has a fairly rounded game, they can be a little harder to notice as a star. The Knicks keeping Ewing and targetting Larry Johnson is proof of that. Anthony Mason was probably traded two more times than he should have been in his career. However, that helped make his career even more remarkable. It's hard enough for players to make a big difference to one team, let alone three. Anthony Mason did that. He didn't get the accolades such a career should have merited. He only made one All-Star game, one All-NBA team (3rd) and one All-Defense team (2nd), and a sixth man of the year award. He won't make the Hall of Fame. That's a shame because Anthony Mason was an All-NBA player year in and year out. In a just world, he'd be in the Hall of Fame. The world isn't always fair though. We lost Anthony Mason too soon. But he did leave behind a very impressive NBA resume, and hopefully his fans won't forget that.