From the Sidelines

Knicks' latest trade is a Dud

The Knicks have gone and done it. After weeks of speculation, they have gone ahead and shipped their bruising, ever-faithful center over the Rockies to some far-off, Western Conference NBA never-never land.

Patrick Ewing? They traded him too. He's 38; he's brittle; he's had a fine (some would say majestic) career in the Big Apple, but most of us agreed it was time for him to move on. But what did they have to let go of Duds for?

COURTESY CNNSI.COM Chris Dudley, TD '87, will have more difficulty attending Yale games after being traded to the Phoenix Suns.

On Thurs., Sept. 21, the Knicks sent Yale alumnus Chris Dudley, TD '87, to the Phoenix Suns as part of one of the largest blockbuster trades in NBA history. By the end of the day, Ewing was a Sonic, Horace Grant was a Laker, and Glen Rice and Luc Longley were Knicks.

Suns' Coach Scott Skiles was understandably elated about his club's acquisition of Dudley. "Chris is known around the league for his toughness, his rebounding, and his shot-blocking ability, as well as for being a great teammate and a true professional," he said. "We're happy to have him on board." The fact that the Knicks included an undisclosed amount of money in the trade might have added to Skiles' happiness, but that's a whole other issue.

Dudley, during his three-year tenure in New York, was a fan favorite, an absurdly paid overachiever on a team of absurdly paid underachievers. Sure, he remains the worst free-throw shooter in NBA history with a career mark of 45.9 percent, but he more than made up for it by throwing his body around the floor and brawling with the NBA big boys in the paint—activities that required him to wear a Hannibal Lecter-like face mask for much of the season a few years ago.

Besides, his ineptitude at the line made him even more beloved by New York fans, who cheered in encouragement when he stepped up to undertake his ritual premature knee bend and laser-like fling at the basket. They exploded if the shot actually went in—a shot that clanged off the backboard and hit every part of the rim on the way down.

For Yalies, seeing Dudley playing for the Knicks—the closest NBA club to New Haven—meant something even more than tie to the big leagues. Dudley was one of the premier players in Yale history and was named to the All-Ivy team three straight seasons. After a superb senior season in 1986-87, he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fourth round. His 14-year NBA career—which included ten post-seasons- ran through Cleveland, New Jersey, and Portland, before he finally settled down with the Knicks.

He has remained a supporter of Yale basketball, sitting in the crowd at the John J. Lee Amphitheater during last season's dramatic win over Princeton. Yale students could catch one of their own battle nightly on the MSG network, or if they were lucky enough to score tickets to the perennially sold-out Garden and watch someone who had once sat in the same classrooms and eaten in the same dining halls as they bang under the boards with the Mournings and Shaqs of the world.

Growing up, I wanted to be Dudley, a guy smart enough to go to Yale but, with the help of a miraculous ten-inch growth spurt, also play in the NBA. One of my favorite moments of recent sports history came two seasons ago, when Ewing was injured and Dudley started for a few games. During pre-game introductions, the Garden announcer would cap off the starting lineup by bellowing, "At center, 6'11" from Yale...Chris Dudley!" and the crowd would go wild. One of our own had hit the big time.

But now he's gone—a throw-in on the trade, really. Instead of the hard-nosed Dudley, the Knicks now have Longley and Rice, two more absurdly paid underachievers. Scott Layden, the Knicks' general manager, may not have only broken the hearts of Yalies everywhere by trading away Dudley. He may have made an unwise basketball move.

ESPN.com basketball analyst Eric Karabell claims that Longley "is better than Chris Dudley because he has some semblance of an offensive game and doesn't airball his free throws," but Karabell forgets that the last thing the Knicks need is another no-defense scorer. And Longley, who injured his knee competing for the Aussies in the Olympics, is now out of action for a minimum of two months, leaving the Knicks starting the always dangerous Travis Knight at center.

With their current lineup, there is little doubt that the Knicks will rank dead last—by a long shot—in the NBA in rebounding. And rebounding wins championships. Dudley may not score much, but he did a more than passable job on the boards and matched up with the NBA's top centers on defense when Ewing was injured or taking a breather on the bench. Duds left scoring to the Knicks' scorers. Does Layden really expect Longley, the softest thing to come out of Australia since Vegemite, to contain anyone? Forget Longley. Forget Rice. Forget even Ewing.

Give us Duds.

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