There was a version of this that existed in my drafts, after the Knicks won Game 4 in dramatic fashion, and the city and surrounding area lost its mind. Anything that was felt that evening has since doubled, as the Knicks are the proud Champions of the 2025-2026 NBA Season. Brunson is your finals MVP, and today, the team walked down the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan to accept the keys to the city from the mayor.
For many of us, the idea of a Knicks Championship existed as an ever-present lifelong punchline to a joke that never seemed to change. And then all of a sudden, within the past five years, it got more and more real; making the playoffs, then the second round, then the conference finals. All of sudden we had made it to the Finals. All of New York seemed to unify behind the Orange and Blue. Over the course of 10 days, the Knicks gave the Spurs a gentleman’s sweep (let them win one game, but only one), and broke a 53-year drought of victory. Everywhere you went someone was repping the Knicks. Strangers were hyping each other up and on game nights the city would literally erupt with cheers as fans flooded the streets to celebrate.
This victory has changed the city, and for the better. It has taught us lessons and reminded us of things that we lose in the daily rat race of getting enough money to live and trying to take care of ourselves in the moments in between. It sounds like the kind of thing you’d see in a Disney movie where the underdogs triumph through the power of friendship, hard work, determination but that’s kind of exactly what happened. Firstly, there is the joy of impossible success. What Kevin Garnett felt when he tilted his head back and yelled “Anything is possibleeee!!!!” is what New Yorkers have been feeling since the Knicks even got to the Finals. And then to win it all; I’m not ashamed to admit that when I’m stressing at work, I take a moment to hype myself up by thinking “The Knicks did it, why can’t I?”
There’s also the way they won. No big contracts, no star chasing, no superteam. Just assembling pieces that fit their plan and vision. We got to see Brunson remain clutch, score almost half the points of the last game, and win Finals MVP. We got to see Karl Anthony Towns step into a leadership role and keep the team focused when their defense was slipping. We got to see the value of defense and a generational highlight from OG Anunoby. I could go on listing the individual achievements but I think you get the point.
And you, the people. The most palpable and wonderful part of this whole magical ride. It’s been ages since New York has been able to come together, all united behind one cause. Making new friends left and right just because you see they’re repping the orange and blue. Watching with strangers on a cell phone or outside a bodega. The experience of cheering in a packed bar is one that I will never forget; made all the more sweeter by knowing that every bar in every neighborhood is experiencing the same thing. And when we won, then we went outside. Making movies every night; tearing some things up in the process but feeling collective joy and celebration like so many of us haven’t felt in a long time. They say the crime rate dropped, and I haven't checked the numbers, but everything felt a little nicer during the Finals run. One people, one goal, one hope, one mission; and it feels incredible.
In summary, never forget: the power of friendship, the value of keeping your head down and working hard, understanding that while you might be down that you aren’t defeated, and always believing in yourself. I’ll see you at the parade on top of a box truck (I’m too big to climb a lamppost). Knicks in 5.
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