The New York Knicks are NBA champions. They beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the Finals to clinch the franchise’s first title since 1973. Jalen Brunson scored 45 points to seal it. Mike Brown won a title in his first year as head coach. The 53 year wait is over.
If you grew up a Knicks fan, you know what this means. There are people in Manhattan who have been waiting their entire lives to see this happen. The Patrick Ewing teams came close and never closed. The Linsanity year was a flash that faded. The Carmelo Anthony era never got out of the second round. New York basketball was a punchline for decades. Now they are champions.
Brunson is the franchise hero. He scored 36 in Game 4 to keep the comeback alive. He scored 45 in Game 5 to put the title in the bag. He played through pain. He took every big shot. He never blinked. The kid from Villanova who was supposed to be a backup point guard is now an NBA champion and probably the new mayor of New York.
OG Anunoby was the secret weapon. His Game 4 tip in is going to live forever. He shot the ball at an absurd clip in the Finals. He defended Victor Wembanyama as well as any wing could. He was the guy who made it possible for Brunson to be the star. The Knicks traded RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for Anunoby. That trade just won a title.
Mike Brown is going to get a lot of credit for this. He took over a team that had not won anything in 53 years, lost Julius Randle to free agency, dealt with mid season injuries, and still navigated the roster to a championship. He is now a coach with two NBA titles in different roles. He was Mike D’Antoni’s defensive coordinator on the team that won. He is now the head coach who won it himself. That is a different kind of resume builder.
The Spurs are going to be heartbroken. Victor Wembanyama is going to win multiple MVPs and probably multiple titles, but Game 4 of this Finals will haunt him. The Spurs were up 29 in that game. They lost. The series basically ended there. San Antonio could not recover.
The other thing this title proves is that the Knicks’ approach worked. They built through veterans, they avoided the youth movement that other teams have chased, and they let their stars carry them. Brunson, Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Mitchell Robinson, Karl-Anthony Towns. All veterans. All proven. The Knicks went all in on the present and got rewarded with a title.
Madison Square Garden is going to be electric for the next decade. The arena was the loudest building in basketball during the Finals. Now it is the home of the defending NBA champions. Every game next season is going to be a celebration.
The parade through the Canyon of Heroes is going to be massive. The franchise has not had a champion to celebrate since the 70s. Walt Frazier was there. Earl Monroe was there. Willis Reed was there. Those names get talked about in Knicks lore like myths. Now Brunson, Anunoby, and Bridges join them. Add Mike Brown and team president Leon Rose to the list of guys who get to live in New York rent free for the rest of their lives.
The Knicks won the title. The drought is over. New York is on top of the basketball world.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
