Holler Back: Bball Legend McGuire Chunks The Deuces

Knicks legend and basketball Hall of Famer Dick McGuire passed away Wednesday of natural causes. He was 84 years old. The New York native and brother of legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire spent more than 5 decades with the Knicks organization as a player, coach, scout and eventually in his final role as something like a mentor pimp.

Nicknamed “Tricky Dick” because of his ball-handling abilities (on the court for all of you gutter-minded people out there), McGuire was a 7-time All-Star selection and lead the Knicks to 3 straight finals appearances from 1951-53. Unfortunately his squad could never win the crown, losing to the Rochester Royals in a 7-game series in ‘51, the Minneapolis Lakers in a 7-game series in ‘52 and getting smashed by the old-school Lake Show yet again in 1953. McGuire ended his career with the Pistons where he assumed the role of player-coach during the 1959-60 season, which was the last of his playing career.

McGuire spent an incredible 53 years as a member of the Knicks and is still 3rd all-time on the franchise’s assist list. It could be argued that McGuire dropped more dimes than Hugh Hefner during his career, but Hef definitely got way more nuts.