Former Eastern Michigan guard, Tim Bond was added to the New York Knicks summer league roster last month, per Eastern Michigan Athletics. Bond played for the Eagles from 2014-2018 and was named the 2018 MAC Defensive Player of the Year in his senior campaign.
The Knicks were set to tip off their first summer league game against the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans on July 5th. Although, Bond was added to the summer league team, he did not see action in the Knicks first game which was postponed early in the fourth quarter because of an earthquake in the Las Vegas area.
Bond played all four years of his career with the Eagles. After his sophomore season, Bond was named to the first ever MAC All-Defensive Team after leading the conference with 67 steals. Bond held that title after his junior season as well. He was named to the MAC All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive season after leading the conference with 2.1 steals per game and 69 in total. He also ranked 15th in the MAC in blocks per game, averaging 0.8.
During his final year with the Eagles, Bond earned the Mid-American Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming only the second Eagle to win the award. He surpassed EMU legend Earl Boykins in all-time career steals. Bond finished his fourth season with the Eagles with 238 steals. Needless to say, Bond is known to be one of the best all-time defenders in Eastern Michigan history.
However, despite his accomplishments, Bond didn’t see the court for the Knicks’ first summer league game. Instead, fans watched his new teammate, R.J. Barrett matchup against his former Duke teammate, Williamson. The game didn’t go as expected as Williamson suffered a left knee injury and then the game was postponed before completion.
Bonds’ new teammate and former Duke star, Barrett struggled from the floor. He finished with 10 points, shooting just 22.2% from the floor. On the other hand, Williamson took an early exit, but finished with 11 points, three rebounds and one steal. Bond, who averaged 5.6 points per game in the G-League last season, will look to find minutes in the Knicks’ second outing of the summer.
New York will play the Phoenix Suns on July 7th in Las Vegas.
