The oldest living New York Knick is keeping his cool during the team’s historic — and heart-stopping –championship run.
Hall of Famer Richie Guerin told The Post this week he doesn’t get butterflies seeing his former team on the brink of their first championship title since 1973.
“Not really. Because, you know, I’ve been there too many times before — to watch a team win a game by effort and lose a game by the other team’s effort,” said the 94-year-old Guerin, who played for the Knicks from 1956 to 1963.
The Knicks legend, who made history as the first guard to score 2,000 points in an NBA season, had the foresight to predict the team would clinch Game 4.
“I think there’ll be a very good chance that the Knicks will win this game tonight and then go to San Antonio with a 3 to 1 lead and hopefully come away with a win,” Guerin said on Wednesday morning, before the Knicks later stunned the San Antonio Spurs with a history-making comeback after being down 29 points in the third quarter.
Guerin spent seven seasons playing for the Knicks, until he was traded to the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, where he played seven more years and also coached.
He had an impressive career average of 20 points per game, 11 games of 40 or more points, and several with 50 points. His career high of 57 points stood for more than 50 years until Bernard King broke it with 60 in 1984.
The Bronx native, who played for Iona College and served as an officer in the Marine Corps, was at Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday with his daughter as a guest of the organization, which announced him on the jumbotron.
“It worked out very nice to have an enjoyable evening. Everything nice, but winning the game,” the six-time NBA All-Star said.
“Monday, it just happened that the other team did a little bit better down the stretch and was able to come away with the win, just like the Knicks were in the game in San Antonio … But sports is a funny thing and teams play differently from game to game.”
The father of four said the league was different in his day — and players had to make ends meet by getting other gigs in the off-season.
“We had to go out and get a job. We had a family. The players today in all sports, it’s a 12-month sport. They take a slight break and they come back,” he explained.
“I worked with a friend of mine who owned a plumbing business. And then I worked at the racetrack up in Yonkers.”
And because current ballplayers are playing more, they’re stronger on the court.
“Today’s athlete is a lot better and physically stronger than the athletes of the era that I played in, in any sport. They play a lot more games than we did in the off-season,” he said.
He also called the Spurs’ 7′ 4″ powerhouse and now-New York archenemy Victor Wembanyama “a very strong, talented player,” but explained that in his era, a man from France would never play in the NBA.
“That’s the other part of the game today, where people are coming into the league from Europe,” he said.
The grandfather of eight said none of his grandkids play basketball — but he still gifted them with precious memorabilia from his storied career.
“I give things to my grandchildren or a friend, and I’m very happy and satisfied to do that,” he said.
“There’s a lot of people who sell it. And I’m not one of those types of people.”
