Jan. 3, 1965 - Harry Gallatin (pictured right today with Knicks president Ned Irish), fired by the St. Louis Hawks last week, returned to the New York Knicks as a coaching replacement for Eddie Donovan.
Donovan was named general manager in the shift of personnel made public today by Irving Felt, chairman of the board of Madison Square Garden, and Ned Irish.
The 6-6 Gallatin, who starred with New York for nine seasons as a player, will make his first appearance Tuesday night at the Garden against the Cincinnati Royals.
The hiring of Gallatin, 37, is the third major coaching change in the NBA in the past two months. Last November, the Detroit Pistons fired Charley Wolf and replaced him with Dave DeBusschere, and the Hawks appointed Richie Guerin, a former Knick player, to succeed Gallatin.
Gallatin was elated about his new position.
“Returning to New York is just great,” he said. “With the present young personnel, the Knicks are on the way, and I am confident we will soon be winning.”
Gallatin said his primary interest would be to instill in the Knicks the winning spirit that the club had in the 1950s, when New York regularly reached the playoffs.
“The thing I feel I have to work on is mental attitude,” he said. “When a club has been down so long, a discouraging feeling sets in. We have to re-install the old confidence.
“There’s nothing I like better than a war. This is war. Everybody talks about the big, bad Celtics. We used to beat them when they had Cousy and Sharman and Macauley. You can get that spirit back. I hope the players are ready.”
Gallatin’s playing career began with New York in 1948 and ended in 1958 with the Pistons. Gallatin was one of the NBA’s most rugged rebounders, despite giving away inches to many opponents. The 6-6 forward was called “The Horse” for his strength and “The Iron Horse” after he set the league record for consecutive games, 682, which has since been broken.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments