Knicks draft pick Tyler Nickel's dad grew up on Long Island and is a lifelong fan of the team
Tyler Nickel with family and friends at his NBA Draft party. Credit: Gersh Agency
Eric Nickel couldn’t hear anything as his son Tyler’s name was announced with the 47th pick in the NBA Draft last month. Surrounded by around 200 people at O’Neill’s Grill in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the Nickels’ friends and family erupted after Tyler officially became an NBA player.
Once Eric got a moment with his son, the emotions set in.
“I hugged him,” Eric told Newsday, “and I said, ‘Can you believe it? You’re an NBA player, but for the Knicks.' ”
Tyler Nickel, right, with his father, Eric Nickel, at his NBA Draft party. Credit: Gersh Agency
Born in Rockville Centre and raised in Kings Park after moving there at age 10, Eric is a lifelong Knicks fan. Now, his son, who helped lead Vanderbilt to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances after previously playing for North Carolina and Virginia Tech, is playing for his boyhood team.
Growing up on Long Island, Eric fell in love following the Knicks’ 1969-70 NBA title-winning squad, prompting him to watch as many games as he could on television.
Beginning in the Smithtown Recreation and Kings Park youth basketball leagues, Eric Nickel went on to play varsity basketball and football at Kings Park High School before graduating in 1977.
He walked on to SUNY Plattsburgh’s basketball team for two years, but an ankle injury ended his playing career. Over the next two years, he remained involved with the sport by joining Plattsburgh's women's basketball coaching staff.
Eric Nickel has worked in James Madison University's recreation department since 1995 and raised his family in Virginia, but basketball remained a major part of his life. For 23 years, he officiated high school, Division II and Division III games.
With a background in officiating, Eric Nickel said Tyler, the youngest of his three sons, learned fundamentals, such as how to avoid traveling and use pivot feet from an early age. Eric said Tyler always loved basketball, but it wasn’t something he pushed him into.
Eric has remained a Knicks fan, but Tyler, now 22, was more into college basketball and mostly watched whichever NBA team LeBron James was on growing up.
Tyler Nickel of the Vanderbilt Commodores. Credit: Getty Images
After Tyler averaged 13.5 points while shooting 40% from three-point range during his senior year at Vanderbilt, Eric said they expected his son to go somewhere between picks 37 and 48 in the draft. With the Knicks holding the 24th, 31st and 55th picks and showing less pre-draft interest than other organizations, Eric didn't envision Tyler landing in New York.
But with 29 of the 30 second-round picks traded, the draft board was shaken up, and the Knicks netted the 47th pick, where they landed Tyler in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks.
“I feel crazy right now,” Tyler Nickel told Virginia-based TV station WHSV on draft night. “Just working my whole life to be in this position. I feel like I’m in a dream right now.”
Eric said his son is known as a shooter; he finished his collegiate career shooting 39.4% from beyond the arc. With that resume, Eric thinks players are often pigeonholed as not being as good defensively or tough.
“I hope he ends up being a crowd favorite because of the way he plays, how hard he plays,” Eric Nickel said. “[Knicks fans] have a way of adopting players who work hard, and I'm hoping that'll be a good fit.”
Yet Eric highlighted that Tyler’s intangibles make him a tough, scrappy, hard-playing defender who is “one of the most competitive guys you've ever met.”
In Eric’s mind, Tyler is the exact kind of player Mike Brown wants because he observed that the Knicks' coach “likes tough, scrappy guys that don't back down from anything” during the franchise’s NBA Finals run.
After the Knicks selected Tyler, Eric said many of his childhood friends reached out to congratulate his family, sharing the excitement as fellow Knicks fans. But the feeling is unmatched for Eric, who is hoping to see his son contribute to a championship-winning team.
“It's cool that your son is playing in the NBA, but then the second thing — and for the Knicks — that means a lot to people,” Eric said. “It was really incredible for me, and I hope he can figure out a way to stay there for a good long time.”
