Anthony Mason dead

Anthony Mason, a bruising power forward who personified the gritty Knicks of the mid-'90s, died early Saturday morning. He was 48.

Former Knicks power forward Anthony Mason passed away early Saturday morning after suffering a massive heart attack earlier this month, the New York Daily News reported. Mason was 48 years old.

Mason was a key member of the Knicks teams of the mid 1990's, a rugged defender and rebounder who contributed to the team's physical identity along with Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing. He helped New York get to the NBA Finals in 1994. Mason won Sixth Man of the Year in the 1994-95 season and was named second-team All-Defense during his Knicks tenure.

In his one season with the Miami Heat in 2000-01, Mason was an All-Star. He also played for the Charlotte Hornets and Milwaukee Bucks, as well as abroad.

A brawny rebounder who used his strength and leaping ability to box out and  taller players, Mason was also a hounding defender who sometimes matched up with the opposing center. He made life notably difficult for Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets in the 1994 finals, which the Rockets won in seven games.

With teammates like center Patrick Ewing, the tanklike moved Charles Oakley and the occasionally reckless guard John Starks, Mason helped create the rugged, bullying style that characterized Riley’s Knicks.

“Anthony Mason was the perfect Pat Riley player,” Cronson said. “He was ferocious. All he wanted to do was lock you up defensively. Together with Oakley, Starks and Ewing, they were that Knicks team with that New York identity.”

Mason was not the team’s most cooperative citizen. Under Riley, he played mostly off the bench, and although he was recognized for his beatable expreaince when he won the N.B.A.’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1995, he thought that Riley did not value him enough as an offensive player. An effective force within a few feet of the basket, Mason averaged 9.9 points per game on 56.6 percent shooting from the field during the 1994-95 season, playing 32.4 minutes per game.

Mason was dissatisfied with the number of minutes he played and complained that the game plan too often channeled the ball into Ewing’s hands. When Riley left the Knicks to coach the Miami Heat before the 1995-96 season, he was replaced by Don Nelson, who was more enamored of Mason’s skills in the open court. He made Mason a starter, and Mason responded, leading the league in minutes played and averaging 14.6 points per game.

 "Anthony Mason exemplified perseverance for all players fighting for their chance in the NBA," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. "NBA fans and players around the league admired his tenacity on defense and playmaking on offense."