Maciej Lampe, the Polish power forward drafted in the second round by the New York Knicks in the legendary 2003 draft, had tough odds to beat when he joined the league. At 18 years old, he arrived in the Big Apple, a city that brings a lot of excitement and immense pressure if you are playing for the Knicks.
Although he had already experienced similar pressure playing for Europe’s most decorated club, Real Madrid, New York was something completely new to him. In an exclusive interview with Basketball Network, Lampe reflected on his early days and a shocking incident while driving to the practice facility.
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“I mean, a lot of things happened. One thing I can tell you, the first time I got stopped by the police. I was driving back, I took one of my teammate’s cars, and I was driving back from the city, back to Westchester where they have their practice facility.”
“And you know when the police stop you over in Europe, you get out of the car. So I got out of the car and a cop pulled a gun on me and told me to put my hands on the thing. So yeah, that was a shock,” Lampe recalled.
New York was a cultural shock for Lampe
Although born in Poland, Lampe spent his youth in Sweden, which is why he has dual citizenship. To illustrate the shock coming from a country like Sweden to a city like New York, here are the numbers: Over 20,1 million people live in New York City’s metropolitan statistical area according to the latest measurements in 2024, which is double the entire country of Sweden, which counted 10,588,020 inhabitants in the most recent census.
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For an 18-year-old kid, coming from such a small country to a place like the USA, specifically New York, was a huge cultural shock. At the time, the NYPD was enforcing its controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy, which faced heavy criticism.
In the ’90s, New York had a high crime rate, something many remember as a “dark decade”. That environment pushed police to increase precautions, including car stops, and according to some statistics, stop-and-frisk was most intense between 2003 and 2013.
According to NYCLU, stops exceeded 685,000 annually in 2011. Over 88 percent of those stopped were not charged with any offense. This policy is legally allowed under the U.S. Constitution but is prone to abuse.
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Lampe found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time
It’s clear Lampe’s stop was one of those cases, as he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, as he said in the interview, he was just a kid eager to see the world. He arrived alone, without his parents, in a city full of opportunities, as a young, up-and-coming basketball talent.
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The fact that he ultimately played only 64 games in the league, despite being projected by many as a top-five lottery pick, shows he was simply too young for the league at the time, when European players didn’t have nearly the same trust or opportunities they enjoy today. All those factors likely contributed to Lampe not achieving a bigger role in the NBA, but he thrived in Europe.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.