Jonathan Bender is a Knick

Yes, Bender’s apparently still alive. And now, Donnie Walsh (who has always loved him) has brought Jonathan to New York: “The Knicks departed Louisiana over the weekend with not only their fifth win in six games, but also with the free-agent forward Jonathan Bender, whose signing was announced Sunday. Bender, a high school star in Mississippi who was the fifth overall pick in the 1999 draft, had his career derailed by debilitating knee injuries. There is no timetable for his return to action. The 7-foot Bender, 28, last played in an N.B.A. game on Nov. 5, 2005. In seven seasons with the Indiana Pacers, he played more than 60 games only once — in 2001-2, when he averaged a career-high 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds. ‘He can put the ball on the floor,’ the Knicks’ president, Donnie Walsh, said. ‘He used to be able to get to the basket on one dribble from halfcourt. There’s not a whole lot of guys who can do that. I don’t know if he can do that now, but he knows how to play.”’