My 24 years in New York ? the ups and downs, the battles and big shots, everything, all of it ? actually started with a call from a guy by the name of?.
Well, according to my then fianc?e: ?Pat Huey.?
Let me set the scene for you. Before I even knew the Knicks were interested in signing me away from the Pistons as a free agent in ?96, I?m at home in Michigan and the telephone rings.
A few seconds later, my fianc?e, now my wife ? who I love more than anything but who, at the time, only knew Pistons players and didn?t know players across the league ? comes into the living room holding the phone: ?Hey, some guy named Pat is on the phone for you. Or Patrick. Pat Huey or something?.?
I kind of squint my eyes and **** my head to the side and give her one of those Who? looks before taking the phone.
Then I get on the line, and ? it?s the big fella.
Not Pat Huey.
PATRICK EWING!
Now, you gotta understand ? I was in the building at that Final Four in ?82 at the Superdome when Big John and Pat beat the Louisville Cardinals team my dad coached for in the semis. I saw his domination firsthand. I?d admired this man since I was like 11 years old. And now here he was calling me to ask me to come play with him in New York?
Unreal.
So Patrick and I, we talk for about 10 minutes, and then, a few days later ... he?s on a private jet that lands in Detroit to swoop up me and my father for a trip to NYC.
When we landed, the Knicks put us up in the St. Regis in Manhattan. I?d never seen a suite that size before.
First thing I did was sit down on the couch, spread out, and pop a video into the TV that the team had left at the hotel for me.
I press play, and, all of a sudden ? I?ll never forget it?.
Columbo pops up on the screen.
Columbo?
Yeah, man ? Columbo.
He?s looking right into the camera, and he?s like, ?Hey, Allan! You?re the missing piece! We need you in New York. Come play for the Knicks in the Garden!!!?
Then I think Spike popped up on the TV next, and it?s like?.
?Yo, Al ? you?re the final piece, man! We need you in New York. You can put us over the top. We?re so close. And you?re the guy who can get us there. This is the Garden, man. The mecca. Let?s do this, Al!!!!!?
There were a whole bunch of other famous people after that. All of them like?.
?This team needs you, Allan. Join the family!?
It was CRAAAZYYY!
And, for whatever reason, that video has always stuck with me. That?s one of the things I remember most about being recruited to come play for the Knicks, to be honest. I?m just always like?.
They actually pulled out Columbo! These dudes played ? the Columbo card? Are you kidding me?
And my wife ? she may not have known Pat, but she definitely knew about Columbo.
