If you’re a long-suffering Knicks fan, go ahead and pinch yourself, you aren’t dreaming, YOUR NEW YORK KNICKS ARE 2026 NBA CHAMPIONS!!! Sometimes fairytales do come true; the glass slipper fit for the Knicks in 2026, and we didn’t see no pumpkins.
The magical carpet ride that has been the Knicks’ 2026 NBA Playoffs felt like a fever dream. The everlasting image of Jalen Brunson lifting the Larry O’ Brian trophy felt like something you had seen the rough outlines of buried in the deepest darkest recesses of your mind, an idea, a hope, a dream, but never something tangible, a distant reality. For over 20+ years, the Knicks were a laughing stock, a meme, the running butt of jokes around the entire NBA, they couldn’t sniff the playoffs, let alone EVER get to the NBA Finals, let alone WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP?!?!
In presumably nearly every male group chat, the Knicks have long been compared to the greatest loser Franchises in history; they were in the class of disgraceful organizations like the Jets, the Mets, and the Detroit Lions. If you had told your group chat in the Year of Our Lord 2020 that soon the lowly New York Knickerbockers would be the kings of the basketball world and break the long-standing New York Sports curse, freeing our suffering fans from a lifetime of turmoil and heartbreak, they would have institutionalized you.
But, then a man named Jalen Brunson came along.
James Dolan, the hated, long-maligned owner of the Knicks, made a brilliant move when he brought in former Super-Agent, Leon Rose, to run basketball operations. Rose has a sharp mind for the game and how to fit different players on a roster like completing a puzzle. His first and most important move was signing the then underrated and mostly unknown, but soon to be world-renowned superstar, Jalen Brunson, to a long-term deal. I’ll be the first to admit that I thought Rose gave up too much to sign away Brunson from the Mavericks, as he was unproven at that time and an undersized Point Guard standing around 6 feet tall. But I couldn’t be happier that he proved me and so many others wrong.
Brunson didn’t shy away from the challenges that come with being the go-to star for the Knicks and the endless pressures of New York City and the relentless media that comes along with it. He took full control of the team, made it in his own image, and entrenched himself as a New York Sports legend. He instilled a culture of toughness and grit that had been lacking for so long and became the top clutch player in the entire sport in the process. Leon Rose next turned his attention to compiling the Nova Knicks and adding another dash of grit via the trade for Josh Hart, who became the heart and engine of the team, no pun intended. He’s one of the rare players who can score literally zero points and still post a huge +/- because of his defensive versatility, rebounding prowess, and ball movement.
The final infinity stone to build the Nova Knicks (sorry Dante DiVincenzo), was Mikal Bridges, F*ck them picks! Nobody took more sh*t from the fanbase than Mikal Bridges, all that vitriol over 5 measly first round picks who may or may not pan out, and in return we got a long, fantastic defensive wing who can get hot and put up 30. Then, when we traded for OG One Kenobi, nobody (perhaps other than Leon Rose), thought we were getting a top 10 – 15 player in all of basketball, but that’s exactly what the Knicks got. A linebacker-esque beast of a defender, who will bully you in the paint, make the right pass, dunk on your head, and shoot the lights out from 3, the OG move was one of the biggest trade fleeces in NBA history.
The final piece, big Zesty, the big Pur, THE big KAT, Karl Anthony-Towns. A unicorn at the center position who can hit 3’s from downtown, take you to the basket, and see the court as well as any point guard, KAT proved to be the guy at Center and he will forever be remembered as a New York Sports King. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to Coach Brown, we loved Thibs but Mike Brown proved to be the correct choice with his offensive versatility, utilization of the bench to take pressure and minutes off the starting 5, and his decision to move the ball through KAT as the focal point until the 4th Quarter when the grim reaper, Jalen Brunson, did his thing as the best closer since Mariano.
Throughout their magical playoff run, the Knicks felt like a true throw-back, grind it out, break-you-down and wear-you-out basketball team. It reminded me of watching mid 2000’s NBA on my friend’s couch, some of the last days before 3 balls and finesse started to dominate the game. The Knicks have an old school, team-first, selfless style to them that was beautiful to watch. No mini franchises on this team. Over the Finals Series with the Spurs, the Knicks proved to be a fourth quarter behemoth, making the extraterrestrial big whiney baby Wemby feel very human, as they dragged a much younger, less physical team into the deepest waters of their lives and drowned them like a great white shark off Amity Island. During the playoff massacre, the Knicks were a combination of a lethal assassin and an inescapable buzzsaw, decapitating every team, game by game, and round by round. Such beautiful violence.
Your New York Knicks manufactured one of the greatest playoff runs in the long and storied history of the NBA, capped off by the most improbable championship New York has seen in decades; 53 years was well worth the wait. Until next year when they raise the banner — and one last time for the people in the back — We are the New York Knicks! I said Go New York Go New York Go! Bing Bong! #Knickstape.
