The Knicks are NBA Champs
/
After 53 years, the New York Knicks are your 2026 NBA champions.
This is wild to me. I honestly didn't think I'd see the day that the Knicks actually won the whole damn thing. The Knicks, even with being in one of the biggest markets, had kind of become a laughingstock. I grew up on really good Knicks teams that couldn't get over the hump. I genuinely liked the John Starks and Patrick Ewing Knicks. I was a Ewing fan from the time I remember starting to watch the NBA, and when John Starks dunked on Jordan, he didn't, I became an instant fan of his. I had that damn poster on my wall as a kid. I liked Allan Houston and Larry Johnson. Charles Smith will live in infamy, but he was fun for me to watch. Hell, I even tuned into their games when guys like Langston Galloway, Nate Robinson and Frank Knitilikina were a part of the team. They did have a solid little run with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire in the mid 2010's. But the team just couldn't get the big win. Be it Charles Smith getting continually blocked at the rim, or Ewing missing wide open layups, or Hakeem Olajuwon blocking a starks three point attempt, or Carmelo not getting the team past the second round, the Knicks just looked destined to be good, but not good enough. Hell, even last season they couldn't get by the Pacers. The Pacers were on an all time heater, and that Tyrese Haliburton jumper was amazing, but the Knicks were the better team.
After that East Finals matchup, to be honest, I kind of gave up on this current Knicks roster. It seemed a lot like what they had always done. I'm a Grizzlies fan, but growing up in a house that rooted against the Jordan Bulls, I became a Supersonics fan, and always will be. But I also kind of rooted for the Knicks too. It was all about Ewing and RD being a fan. I have never hated or loved the Knicks. I tolerated them. I like their jerseys, I like MSG and I have liked a ton of their players. But they never won anything big, at least not in my lifetime.
Then the Knick had this playoff run. They looked so good after game three against the Hawks. For people that may have already forgotten, the Hawks held a 2-1 lead in the first round, before the Knicks woke up and blew the doors off of them in three straight games. After the Hawks took the lead it looked like typical Knicks playoff regression. Then something clicked and it clicked at the exact right time. They went on to obliterate the Hawks so badly that they had a 60 point lead in Atlanta in the closeout game of that series. They wiped the floor with the 76ers in the second round, and easily dispatched of the Cavs in yet another sweep. This Knicks team felt and looked different. But that didn't stop me from still picking the Spurs to win in seven games. I figured the long layoff for the Knicks, the youth of the Spurs, the home court advantage for the Spurs and the dominance of Victor Webanyama were going to be enough for the Knicks to get beat on the biggest stage. I was so very wrong. Every game in this series was great, and close. I know the Knicks won game one by 10, but that was some late free throws making the final score look a little off. Each game was back and forth. The Spurs would hold these big leads in the first half, but the knicks never wavered. They felt like they could win every game. I do feel the only reason they didn't win game three was because that monster was in attendance when no one wanted his punkass there. He soured that whole night for the Knicks. But even in that game the Knicks closed it to one with seconds left on the clock. The turning point for me, and everyone else I bet, was the comeback win in game four. The Spurs were up 29 at the half. Teams with that big of leads in the NBA don't usually blow those games. But the Knicks just kept chipping away. When they cut the lead to 13 going into the fourth quarter I told my wife I had to go watch just to see if they could fully comeback. And dammit they made the full comeback. That OG Anunoby tip in was incredible and I will never forget it. I was sitting in my living room jaw agape watching no Spurs player guard him and Anunoby rushing to the rim, out jumping everyone and tipping that ball in. It was an incredible game with an amazing comeback and my son was equally as stunned as I was when I told him the Knicks won. Game 5 kind of felt like a formality after that, but you still have to play the game. And the Spurs showed up for three and a half quarters. But so did Jalen Brunson. I'm not the biggest fan of how Brunson plays basketball, but he was determined to close out the Spurs in game 5. The dude was amazing to watch. Every shot that went in seemed crazier than the last one. He was otherworldly in that game. But he had help throughout the series. Anunoby was my personal pick for Finals MVP. He did it all. Literally. Karl Anthony-Towns played the best defense anyone has ever played on Wemby. Mitchell Robinson was the perfect bully. Josh Hart out hustled anyone in his way. Mikail Bridges did his role perfectly. Jose Alvarado stepped up when his number was called. This team was built for this and they won their title in pretty dominant fashion.
I found myself happy for the Knicks watching this series, but it wouldn't have mattered who won. I like both these teams. I was texting with a friend of mine and we both just wanted the series to continue because it was so much fun and so competitive. But in the end the Knicks are the rightful and deserving NBA champs. They went out there and beat everyone in their way. I was wrong, they were right to let Tom Thibodeau walk and hire Mike Brown.
Congratulations New York Knicks. You are the 2026 NBA champs.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.