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Let's just say it hasn't been a great year for the New York Knicks. This season, injuries, internal squabbles, and questionable personnel moves have decimated one of the most successful basketball teams in professional sports history.

Still, despite the gloom of a mediocre season, the Knicks are the home of perhaps two of the brightest lights in pro sports. Their names are Allan Houston and Charlie Ward.

Houston and Ward are well known throughout the NBA for their solid character and passionate devotion to Jesus Christ. Both men became Christians as youths and later recommitted themselves to God after joining the NBA. After games—win or lose—they can be seen huddling players together from both teams to give thanks to God. In the community, they work with local ministries to aid needy families and mentor at-risk kids.

"Iron sharpening iron" is how they both describe their tight bond. Since Houston joined the Knicks as a free agent from the Detroit Pistons in 1996, he and Ward have forged a friendship that has strengthened their faith in God in the midst of tumultuous times. Mainstays of Knicks chapel services and leaders of the team's Bible-study group, the duo is virtually inseparable during the season.

"Allan keeps me accountable before the Lord," says Ward, 32, who credits Houston with helping him overcome a problem with pornography five years ago. "We're best friends, and our families are close, too."

Houston, also 32, says, "I don't know where I would be if it had not been for Charlie. He has been like a big brother to me, especially spiritually. We sit across from each other on the plane and talk a lot about the Scriptures and all issues. It's so good to have someone who shares the same beliefs about lifestyle in a worldly and secular work environment."

Into the fire
Ironically, it's sharing their beliefs that caused Ward and Houston to come under fire two years ago. In a New York Times Magazine article in April 2001, Ward, Houston, and other Knicks players are seen taking part in a Bible study prior to a game. They engage Times writer Eric Konigsberg, who is Jewish, in a lively chat about the Jews' failure to turn to Christ and their role in his crucifixion. Ward, in particular, is quoted talking about the Jews' persecution of early Christians.

The discussion, to most evangelical Christian ears, sounds like the type of frank and unsophisticated probing of the Scriptures that you'd find at any laymen's Bible-study group. However, Konigsberg, whose ears were not accustomed to such things, portrayed the meeting as an episode of blatant anti-Semitism and proceeded to cast the Knicks' Christian players as narrow-minded bigots.

The article ignited a firestorm of criticism, especially against Ward, who was castigated in the press and booed loudly by the home crowd in the Knicks' playoff game against Toronto shortly after the story came out. And later, league commissioner David Stern rebuked him for his religious "zealotry."

Ward offered a public apology to his team, the NBA, and Knicks fans, but in a subsequent interview with the Times, he explained that his statements were taken out of context.

Ward and Houston declined to discuss the controversy with Christian Reader, but John Love, chaplain for the Knicks since 1988, says the incident was blown out of proportion.

"If you know Allan and you know Charlie like I do, you know they have no animosity towards people of the Jewish faith whatsoever," Love says. "On the contrary, these men really have a heart for people, regardless of their social and religious backgrounds."

Love, who is also a youth pastor at Greater Grace World Outreach in Baltimore, believes the controversial incident helped Ward and Houston progress in their Christian walk. "I think these guys learned a great deal as a result of it," he says. "They've become more mature believers, and their faith has been strengthened."

Still standing for Christ
If anything, Ward and Houston's error in the Times magazine debacle was one of naïveté in becoming too friendly with a journalist whose reporting seemed driven by an anti-Christian bias. The duo, however, say their goal is to always be "transparent and genuine" believers before teammates, coaches, management, and fans.

"We try to shine our light so they can see Jesus in us," says Ward, who was a Heisman Trophy winner as a Florida State University quarterback in 1993 and drafted by the Knicks in 1994. "We might be the only Jesus they see."

Ward adds, "When you stand up and open your mouth and it's different from the rest of crowd, you're going to be ridiculed sometimes. That's why it's good to have a brother like Allan who can encourage you in the Lord."

Houston, who led the Knicks in scoring during the 1999-2000 season, agrees. "Whether it's with my family, my teammates, or with fans, I just try to be an example," says the husband and father of two. "I try to let Christ dwell in me so my actions will speak loudly and glorify God. I realize most of my ministry right now will be through my actions—how I respond to situations God has put me in."

As a Christian athlete in the NBA, Ward admits that it's a challenge to live out his faith publicly. "The key is being consistent, not to be a hypocrite, and to love people even when they mistreat you," he says. "I believe the non-Christian players on the Knicks respect us for our faith. They understand how difficult it is to be a Christian.

"The biggest thing people respect about a Christian is when you're trying to do the right thing and they see you mess up but come and apologize afterward," adds Ward, who is married with a son. "You show your humility and show that you're not better than them."

These days, virtually everyone in the Knicks organization is getting a taste of humility. The glory days of playoff and championship basketball have become a distant memory at Madison Square Garden. Still, having guys like Houston and Ward around can help a team keep it in perspective.

"God is in the midst of winning and losing," says Ward. "It's very challenging right now, but I'm grateful for just being on the team and being a [witness] to my teammates."

A Christian Reader
original article. Eric Tiansay is a writer and editor for Strang Communications in Lake Mary, Florida.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
Click here for reprint information.

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