Who Wore it Best? Knicks #31

If the last segment of WWIB between Julius Randle and Bernard King wasn’t riveting enough for you, hold on to your knickers for this week’s segment of WWIB #31.

As promised last week, #31 presents quite the matchup of biblical proportions featuring Jerome Williams, Malik Rose, and none other than Ron Burgundy himself, Ron Baker.

Giving it to Mark Jackson would be cheating, as he will forever be synonymous with the #13, and simply by chance when he was re-acquired by the Knicks in 2001, the number was unavailable and he elected to flip flop the digits for 29 games, before reverting back to his original Knicks number the following season

In total, there have been 9 players to don the #31 for the Knicks since Mel Davis first wore the number for the team in 1974. He would go on to wear it for three seasons. The last player to wear it was… any guesses? No cheating now… If you guessed Matt Rooney, then congrats! You have the right to call yourself the biggest Knicks fan of all time. But you didn’t, because no one would have ever guessed Matt Rooney, not even Spike, who wore it for a total of 2 minutes in 2022.

Jerome Williams — JYD! Insert a large dog bark here just as the Junkyard Dog would routinely do to startle teammates during team practices. Williams was originally drafted in 1996 by the Detroit Pistons late in the first round of arguably the greatest draft class of all time.

Williams was one of those players who was known for getting down and dirty and doing all the little things nobody wanted to do and did them better than most. He was tough, and he was scrappy. He was ferocious just like his nickname. He was also beloved and a fan favorite wherever he played. His numbers were never flashy, but he always filled several columns across the box scores.

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

In 2002 as a member of the Toronto Raptors, Williams averaged just a hair under a double-double with 9.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. In 1999, Williams finished fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting during his last season with the Pistons when he averaged a career-high in rebounds with 9.6 per game. The Knicks acquired him in 2004, which would ultimately be his last year in the league.

He didn’t produce much in the way of numbers, but what he for sure was full energy and played with heart, two things the Knicks desperately needed during their woeful 33-49 season. When JYD was on the court for the Knicks during 79 of the 82 games that year, Knicks fans saw a veteran player, one final season away from retirement, playing every minute with the spirit of a rookie with the mindset that those minutes could be his last, and he did it for a city that he proudly wore across his chest.

Malik Rose — Of all the Knicks to have worn the #31, Rose did so the most consistently and for the longest period. The Knicks acquired Rose midway through the 2004-05 season in exchange for Nazr Mohammed and Jamison Brewer. Rose joined New York after an eight-year tenure with the San Antonio Spurs, where he played a pivotal role in winning two NBA Championships, including the 1999 title against the Knicks.

During his three-plus years with the Knicks from 2005 to 2009, Rose appeared in 230 games as a key role player off the bench. The highlight of his Knicks career came on April 18, 2007, when he narrowly missed a triple-double, recording 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists against the now-defunct Charlotte Bobcats.

Nearly 4 years to the day from when the Knicks acquired Rose, the Knicks traded Rose mid-way through the 2009 season to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Chris Wilcox, where he would finish his playing career and ultimately retire at the end of the 2008-09 season.

For a player who never averaged more than 10 points during a single season, Rose had quite the career, playing 13 seasons. Not too shabby for a 44th-overall draft pick.

Photo by Tim Heitman/NBAE via Getty Images

Ron “Burgundy” Baker — Ron Baker may win this week’s poll simply for his beloved reddish-blondish locks, as they adorned and swayed back and forth through the air over his #31 uniform for two and a half seasons. Over that span, Baker only appeared in 92 games, averaging a modest 14.5 minutes per game.

Whether he was on the court or the bench though, Knicks fans loved him. Even on the road, NBA fans loved him. He was the Knicks version of Brian Scalabrine, minus the three-point shooting.

Throughout a 4-year NBA career, Baker averaged a mere 3.1 points per game with the Knicks and the Wizards, albeit only appearing in four games with the latter. The numbers didn’t matter though. As long as the hair was sprayed and always in place, 19,000 plus fans were screaming “Baker… Baker...” during every Knicks blowout in hopes of getting a glimpse of his famous blowout live in action. Baker was ultimately waived by the Knicks in early December 2018. If not for Anthony Mason, he may go down as the greatest ‘do in Knicks history.

Stay Class San Diego!

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

P.S. No ‘Where’s Darko?’ comments, please!