In Game 1 on Wednesday, which the Knicks lost, 85-78, the 6-foot-7 Mason did his burly best, grabbing 10 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench, and taking a long turn guarding 7-foot center Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston, who managed only one field goal after halftime. Olajuwon became frustrated enough at Mason's defensive harassment to draw a technical foul for complaining to the referees.
"Everybody knows that with me it's an open challenge to defend anybody I have to," Mason said. "So I didn't know what the situation would be, but I knew I'd welcome the challenge if it came to it."
Appropriately, Mason was Pat Riley's first discovery as the New York coach at a free-agent summer camp in 1991. Mason had played only 24 games the previous two seasons in New Jersey and Denver, but when Riley saw him that summer, he immediately told friends, "I think we have a guy here who can make the team."
That was saying something, considering the world basketball tour Mason had been on since finishing his college career at Tennessee State in 1988. Among the outposts were Turkey and Venezuela, which made his stints in Continental Basketball Association towns like Sioux City, Iowa, seem like a big step up. Mason is one of five CBA alumni playing in this title series.
"I think we all feel a mutual gratification," Mason said. "We all know how hard we worked to get here, and that we don't want to go back. If someone had said to us then that we'd someday be playing for the title, we would have thought they meant the CBA title."
Mason grew up on the streets of New York, and said that his mother raised him to withstand temptations to drugs and crime in his neighborhood.
"You had to stand strong even if you were the only one of the group who said no," he said. "They were going to call you scared or whatever, but I knew what was right and wrong. That's what I thank my mother for, letting me know what was right and wrong at a young age."
Now that strength of body and character is what the Knicks are relying on to get back into this best-of-seven series.
Mason's head read "DOGG" for much of the season, referring to the Dog Pound mini-club in the Knicks' clubhouse, of which he and the bruiser he backs up, Charles Oakley, are charter members.
It now reads "Knicks," a team-first sentiment that might be traced to his four-game suspension by Riley at the end of the regular season for complaining to reporters about lack of playing time.
The suspension was seen as Riley's way of re-emphasizing discipline to the Knicks before the playoffs. Mason got the message, and Riley rewarded him with 26 minutes on Monday, the most he has played in the postseason. Expect to see more of him, now that the Knicks are behind against another physical team.
