Camby was traded to the New York Knicks in a Draft day deal for Charles Oakley, and for his first two seasons in New York, Camby backed up veteran All-Star center Patrick Ewing. The Knicks struggled to establish on-court chemistry in the lockout-shorted 1998–99 season, finishing with a 27–23 record, which was just good enough to qualify for the 8th and final seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, Camby and teammate (and close friend) Latrell Sprewell began to assert themselves as the Knicks shocked the top-seeded Miami Heat and swept the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds, setting up a meeting with the rival Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. After Ewing went down with a season-ending Achilles injury early in the series, Camby filled the void, averaging doubles in the last three games of the series to lead the Knicks to a six-game upset series win over the Pacers and into the NBA Finals. The Knicks became the first (and to-date the only) 8th-seeded team to make it to the NBA Finals, where they matched up with the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs defeated the Knicks in five games to win the 1999 Championship.