KNICKS IN FIVE!!!

For New York Knicks fans, June 13, 2026 will be forever listed as arguably the greatest day in team history. On that night, the Knicks ended their 53-year championship drought by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90, wrapping up the title in five games, and capping off an incredible 16-3 run through the playoffs, with the three losses coming by a combined margin of six points.

And for Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, it was a postseason that was Jordan-esque. When the team needed him the most, he poured in 45 points - nearly half of the team's total - to bury the Spurs and earn a spot on the Mount Rushmore of Knicks greats, alongside players like Clyde Frazier and Willis Reed and Patrick Ewing.

After missing the playoffs in 2021-22, the Knicks signed Brunson away from the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent (paying a stiff penalty for tampering along the way), a move that was panned by NBA "experts" who claimed it was a massive overpayment for essentially a backup point guard.

I wonder how those experts feel now.

The team built up a championship roster around him, starting with deals for Josh Hart and OG Anunoby in 2023 and then swinging deals for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in 2024. The latter two moves may not have been possible if Brunson hadn't agreed to an extension with the Knicks that saved the team over $100 million in salary had Brunson hit free agency.

Brunson again coming up big.

After those moves, the team improved around the margins, bringing in several of the depth players who came up big in the playoffs such as Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado. You name anyone on the bench, and it’s likely that at some point they made a key contribution during this run.

I've been a Knicks fan since shortly before the Pat Riley era, where Ewing and guys like Gerald Wilkins and Kiki Vandeweghe and Maurice Cheeks and Charles Oakley went to the playoffs in 1990 and 1991; we then got the 1994 Finals run, which ended in seven games to the Houston Rockets, and the 1999 Finals appearance, which ended in five at the hands of those Spurs.

For much of the 20 years after the 1999 Finals, us Knicks fans got nothing. We got bad coaches, bad draft picks, bad free agent signings, bad trades, an antagonistic owner, you name it. The fans have paid their dues, and then some.

No matter how bad the team was, the Knicks would play in front of sellout crowds at Madison Square Garden, because someday, the fans hoped, they would be part of something big. They finally have their day. Their week, their month, their year. Maybe even the rest of their lives, because a run like this may never happen again.

The comeback from 2-1 down against the Hawks in the opening round. The complete obliteration of the 76ers. The rally from 22 points down in the 4th quarter against the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals opener to eventually win in overtime, and then reel off three straight comfortable wins to finish off the sweep to make their first NBA Finals appearance in 27 years.

To take the first two games against San Antonio on the road, and then see their 13-game winning streak end with a four-point loss at the Garden in Game 3. To fall behind by 29 points in the early second half of Game 4, only to complete the greatest comeback in NBA finals history and beat the Spurs on what is one of the greatest plays in New York sports history, when OG Anunoby flew in from the sideline and tipped in a missed three from Brunson to give the Knicks the lead with 1.2 seconds left. To fall behind by 16 in the second quarter of Game 5, only to rally once more and hang on for the victory.

A win that will last a lifetime.

The Knicks' first title in 53 years also breaks another drought - it's been almost 15 years since a New York-area team from any of the big four sports won a championship, going back to February 5, 2012, when the Giants beat the Patriots (again) in the Super Bowl. Having suffered through those 14+ years, a win like this was simply unbelievable.

New Yorkers went crazy, celebrating well into the night.

The partying will culminate on Thursday with a parade down Broadway to City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a diehard Knicks fan, will present the team with the keys to the city.

None of these players will ever have to pay for a meal again. They've earned it. The greatest city in the world now hosts the greatest basketball team in the world. 

Knicks in five. Forever.