Bring on the Westchester Knicks

Westchester Knicks is the official name of the New York Knicks NBA Developmental Team as announced Wednesday, May 14, at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.

Bill Boyce, Westchester Knicks V.P. of Sales & Business Operations told the crowd gathered to hear the news that the name was chosen, as promised, through a consensus of fans voting on the Knicks D-League website from March 10 to 24.

“We really took all the suggestions from the community we could attain and literally we received several thousands of ideas and this (Westchester Knicks) was just the popular name, so this is the name the Garden decided to go with for the team,” explained Boyce.

The Westchester Knicks name and logo consisting of Father Knickerbocker dribbling a basketball, was unveiled to a hail of fan-fare in their new home the Westchester County Center. The event was free to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and included an open house seat selection for fans and businesses interested in purchasing season tickets for the upcoming Westchester Knicks 2014-15 season.

About 250 children participated in a youth basketball clinic on the County Center Court, dressed in bright orange Knicks T-shirts. There were contests for prizes, music encompassed the event and the Knicks City Dancers were on hand to sign autographs and interact with fans.

“We are excited and so thrilled to be here, we think this community and the Westchester Knicks are going to be a great fit,” said Dave Howard, the President of Madison Square Garden Sports. “This is going to be tremendous high quality professional basketball at affordable family-friendly prices with great entertainment, so we think this is going to be a tremendous success.”

Howard showed up at the event with a beard that he explained was in support of the NY Rangers pursuit of the NHL Stanley Cup.

Westchester County Executive and Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert Astorino, who sat front and center for the announcement of the team’s name, had led the negotiations with Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett to bring the Westchester Knicks to Westchester County.

“We worked very hard on this for six months and I am very proud that we have a relationship with the New York Knicks and they are going to be called the Westchester Knicks,” Astorino said, adding that the branding is good for both the County and for the NBA team. “It is a great partnership and the County can make money as this team gets bigger and better and I cannot wait to see this place (County Center) filled and loud,” Astorino said.

Michael Kaplowitz, Chairman of the Westchester Board of Legislators also was thrilled. “The Knicks have instantly become good neighbors here in Westchester County and may this be a very long fruitful marriage,” Kaplowitz said.

Knicks forward Jeremy Tyler greeted fans and signed autographs after the Westchester Knicks name and logo was draped from the County Center rafters. Tyler, who is presently on the NY Knicks roster, is well acquainted with D-League facilities having played with the Knicks Summer League Team in Las Vegas and the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA D-League.

“I live in Yonkers and this (County Center) is a great location. It is a great D-League size facility,” commented Tyler. The seating capacity of the Westchester County Center is approximately 3900.

The Westchester Knicks inaugural season at the Westchester County Center will commence in November 2014, with the regular season ending in April 2015. The season will include 25 home games at the County Center with the possibility of D-League playoff games in April.

Individual game tickets are priced starting at $12. Season ticket packages for the entire 25-game season begin at $250. Tickets can be purchased by logging onto www.WestchesterKnicks.com or at the Westchester County Center Box Office.

All patrons who attended the free Westchester Knicks name announcement and season-seat selection event upon departure received a new Westchester Knicks name and logo T-shirt.