Diddy once said he wanted to buy New York Knicks and potentially consider signing 7-foot-6 center

Controversial rapper Diddy once expressed his wish to buy the New York Knicks in 2003 and sign 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming. Diddy was born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon. Hailing from the same town, Diddy wanted to buy the Knicks and improve their status after underwhelming seasons between 2001 and 2003.

They were in the finals and conference finals in successive years before they slipped down in the NBA Eastern Conference in the 2001-02 season, finishing 13th with a 30-52 record. Things didn't look any promising the following year.

New York improved to 37-54, but finished as the 10th seed. During an appearance on The Howard Stern Radio Show, Diddy engaged with listeners and revealed his desire to buy the Knicks and help them return to prominence.

"I'm trying to buy them [Knicks]," Diddy said after a listener asked if he was trying to buy the Knicks. "I'm publicly putting it out there ... They not taking my call."

Diddy was open to buying the Knicks at any cost. He wanted to make instant changes and outlined his plans in case he secured ownership.

"We need to get some new blood up in there," Diddy said. "Imma make sure we're gonna win."

Diddy said the Knicks would have to make a "major acquisition." The hosts questioned him if he would get rid of an aging Allan Houston, to which the rapper responded diplomatically:

"We'd have to assess all situations, you know, I wouldn't really take no prisoners. They're all my friends, I respect everybody but, you know, if I had to come into the organization we'd have to win."

Diddy also suggested he would potentially consider signing Yao Ming if he owned the Knicks when the hosts asked him about the then 7-foot-6 rookie center:

"Yeah, he's definitely somebody that can be a Knick."

You can listen to Diddy's comments on Knicks 8:28 onwards.

Yao Ming was with the Houston Rockets at the time. He was selected No. 1 in the 2002 draft. He played his entire NBA career with the Rockets until 2011. Ming's career was curtailed by injuries since 2005, so the Knicks made a wise call not to trade for him regardless of what Diddy thought.

---

Knicks had no comments on Diddy's statement

The New York Knicks ownership group remained adamant about not selling the franchise to Diddy after not taking his calls, as mentioned by the rapper above. According to Billboard, a Knicks representative had 'no comments' when approached to talk about the New York native's intentions of buying the team.

The Knicks remained mediocre for seven years after Diddy called out the team's performance. They made one playoff appearance in 2004, losing in the first round to the New Jersey Nets.

The Knicks returned to prominence in 2011, briefly after acquiring hometown hero Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets. They made the playoffs three times under his stint, recording two first-round losses and a conference semis finish.