As one of Rolex's global ambassadors, getting hold of these watches was effortless for him.
As early as half a month ago, he had asked David Falk to contact Rolex's North American president and custom-order this batch of watches.
The back of each watch was engraved with the corresponding player's initials and jersey number, along with the words "1999-2000 NYK," making every gift one of a kind.
He checked every watch one by one, from Latrell Sprewell's "LW-8" to Sabonis's "AS-11," all the way down to the numbers of the rookies at the end of the bench, leaving none out.
He knew full well that the cohesion of a championship team was not reflected solely in its on-court chemistry, but also in these small, everyday gestures of care.
A well-chosen gift or a word of sincere encouragement could often produce unexpectedly powerful results.
Once he had finished inspecting them, he satisfiedly closed the boxes one by one, ready to bring them to the locker room tomorrow.
At the same time, the other Knicks players were also preparing this team surprise in their own ways.
Latrell Sprewell, the outwardly wild and unruly "Madman," was actually quite thoughtful inside.
Rather than choosing luxury goods, he used his own connections to custom-order a set of top-of-the-line Bose noise-canceling headphones for every teammate.
He knew that as professional players constantly traveling for road games, the noise on planes and buses was one of their greatest headaches.
A good pair of noise-canceling headphones could help them rest better during their travels.
He had even thoughtfully selected a different color for each person and had the Knicks logo printed on the headphone cases.
Allan Houston, ever the gentleman, chose a gift with more cultural flair.
He personally selected more than a dozen books he felt