The Post’s Steve Serby chatted with the Knicks’ new president about his life in basketball, from the playgrounds of New York to building a contender in Indiana to his homecoming.

Q: You ran into the legendary Bryan the Bartender the other night at Elio’s?

A: He said: “Are you gonna fix our bleepin’ Knicks?” I didn’t even get through the door. I was looking for people. I said, “I’m gonna try.” (chuckles).

Q: What do you think of when you think about the 69 Knicks?

A: Willis Reed.

Q: You remember how inspirational his Game 7 entrance was for the Garden?

A: I do. I thought that was a thrilling thing.

Q: Is the goal getting the Knicks to embrace the way that team played?

A: I think the goal would be to have a team that would approach it the way that team did. What they were about was winning the game. They were a real team. And I knew Red Holzman and I always admired him a lot.

Q: Best NYC playground games?

A: Rucker Park.

Q: Wilt Chamberlain would show up?

A: Anybody could show up. I was there when Holcombe Rucker ran it; that was the man I went to. He introduced me to Donnie Burks. It started early in the morning and went all day. It was the best feeling I ever had playing basketball. It was on a Sunday, I believe, and there’d be a thousand people around the schoolyard and they loved the game. It was wide open, so you could do a lot of stuff with the ball go between your legs, around your back.

Q: You were easy to find because you were a gym rat?

A: We lived right next to the schoolyard.

Q: You’d play from dawn to dusk?

A: When it got dark, I’d still be out there.

Q: No lights?

A: Just lamps on the street.

Q: Your first Knicks game at the old Garden?

A: I remember trying to get Ernie Vandeweghe’s autograph, which I did get.

Q: Why did you go to North Carolina?

A: They just won the national championship. Frank McGuire knew my father.

Q: How did he know your father?

A: My father lived down on 21st Street and 10th Avenue, that’s where I was born; Frank lived in the same apartment (complex), so they were friends. I think I was the first baby his wife held.

Q: Frank McGuire?

A: The most magnetic, classiest man I ever saw in my life. We were scared of him because, physically, he was a tough man, and he had a reputation in New York of being a very tough man when he was younger. But we were also in awe of him . . . the ultimate respect.

Q: You were 14 at the Clair Bee basketball camp?

A: You think you really know the game, and then you get around a guy like that and realize he knew the game on another level. During WWI, he wanted to go over and kidnap the kaiser of Germany. He wrote the Chip Hilton series. He’d take Frank (McGuire) to church, and he’d write a whole chapter while Frank was in church.

Q: Favorite schoolboy basketball memory?

A: Winning the All-Star game MVP in Madison Square Garden.

Q: You met Richard Nixon and his partners in 1965 when you had an offer to work in his NYC law office?

A: As I left, they took me through the law library, and I saw all these guys my age with books piled up to the ceiling, hunkered down. When I walked out the door, I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ I went back and I met with Dean Smith and said, “I think I want to become a coach.”

Q: What was it like meeting Nixon?

A: It was a big moment to meet a guy like that. He was an historic figure to me. I was somewhat intimidated.

Q: The brawl with Art Heyman and Duke in 1961?

A: I didn’t know him as a high school player. Larry (Brown) knew him and didn’t like him. Artie was on the foul line, and I was gonna box him out if he missed it. I remember him saying (to teammates), “Whatever you do, don’t foul.”

Q: Fast forward to Larry driving to the basket.

A: Artie grabbed him hard around the neck. I was running right behind Heyman at that time.

Q: Larry threw a punch at him?

A: I grabbed Artie from behind to pull him off Larry; I pulled him on the ground and I walked away.

Q: The stands emptied?

A: The whole floor was filled with people.

Q: You played against Wake Forest’s Billy Packer?

A: Billy Packer used to (tick) me off. He could shoot and he could play . . . a little cocky. I always went out to try to outplay him.

Q: Why did you draft Reggie Miller over Indiana fan favorite Steve Alford?

A: I thought Steve was a great college player. I didn’t know if his game would translate into a great pro player. What people missed on Reggie because he was such a great shooter and he was skinny, and one thing I even underestimated, was his heart and his will.

Q: The trade that elevated the Pacers into Eastern Conference contenders?

A: I traded Detlef Schrempf for Derrick McKey. (McKey) was a great team player. He always made the key defensive play. He would make the clutch shot at the end of the game that got it in range for Reggie.

Q: The Palace brawl?

A: I was in New York at a rehearsal dinner; my brother had a wedding for his daughter. All of a sudden my cell phone started ringing. It was (Pacers) coach Rick Carlisle in the locker room: “Donnie, we got a pretty bad incident here.”

Q: He then gave you the blow by blow?

A: I said, “Oh no!” I stayed for a few minutes, then I went back (hotel room) and watched it on television. The minute I saw it, I was obviously thinking, “How am I gonna protect our players?” I knew this was gonna end up in a bad thing.

Q: Mark Jackson the player?

A: Mark could have played on that ( 69) Knick team. When Mark was out there, you could just see a rhythm to the team.

Q: You’re certain Larry Brown will coach?

A: He’s one of the best coaches in the history of the game.

Q: Has he congratulated you?

A: He told me he really wanted to see me take the job.

Q: Other New York basketball figures?

A: Jack Curran; Lou Carnesecca; my high school coach, Jack Sullivan; Jack Lyons; Mike Tynberg; Howard Garfinkel; Teddy Jones.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Alexander The Great; Abe Lincoln; John Kennedy.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Billy Elliott.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: DeNiro; Jack Nicholson.

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Susan Sarandon.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Chilean sea bass.

Q: Message for Knicks fans?

A: I’ll give it my best shot.