The New York Knicks are your 2026 NBA Champions. The dreaded 53-year wait for a chip has ended for this franchise and city. The NBA has had eight different winners over the last eight years.
There’s a case that the greatest free agency signing in NBA history is Jalen Brunson to the Knicks in the summer of 2022. He signed a four-year, $104 million contract. June 30, 2022, will go down in history as one of the greatest days in New York History, retroactively.
The impact was immediate. New York instantly started making noise in the playoffs since his arrival. From the 2023 playoffs to the 2026 playoffs, the Knicks lost in the second round twice, lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, and won the NBA Championship.
Before Brunson, this franchise was a laughingstock. In the nine years prior to the signing, New York had made the playoffs just once. That playoff appearance itself was an embarrassment, losing to the Atlanta Hawks in five games. It was the series that made Trae Young the city’s main villain.
Another stat that helps his GOAT Knick case is that he’s the second-best playoff scorer in franchise history on a per-game basis, at 29.4 in 61 games. Only Bernard King was higher at 31.0, though that came in just 18 games. The player Brunson is competing with for this title is Patrick Ewing, who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in his playoff career.
Before June 13, 2026, Ewing was universally seen as the greatest Knicks player of all time. After the championship, though, it’s a real debate between him and Brunson. Not only did the former Villanova Wildcat win the championship, but he also won Finals MVP. He averaged 32.6 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.2 rebounds.
In the closeout Game Five, he scored 45 of New York’s 94 points. He became the first-ever Knicks player to score north of 40 points in the NBA finals. When it’s all said and done, he will be viewed as the greatest player in franchise history because people sometimes forget he’s only 29 years old.
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One team was ready for the moment, while the other team crumbled under the pressure. The San Antonio Spurs lost their fourth game of the series when leading by double figures. They blew leads of 14, 14, 29, and 16 in their four losses in that order.
An unbelievable stat floating around was how long San Antonio led this series. They lead for 72% of the series. New York led for just 24%, and the remaining 4% was tied.
It wasn’t a typical 4-1 series. The Spurs were a formidable opponent that gave the Knicks a run for their money. When it came down to executing in the clutch, however, New York was on another level.
The Knicks outscored San Antonio 29-18 in the fourth quarter of Game Five. Brunson had 15 points in the quarter alone and averaged 11.2 points per game in the fourth for the series. That was the most by any player since the 1996-97 Finals.
The other side was Victor Wembanyama. In the fourth quarters of these finals, he averaged just 7.8 points on 34.3% from the field and 25% from three. If there’s one thing these NBA finals have taught him, it’s that he needs to get stronger and build better endurance, as he was clearly wearing down at the end of these games.
For the second straight game, a Spurs player missed back-to-back free throws in the final moments. In Game Four, Wemby missed both when up 104-103 with 1:47 left. In Game Five, San Antonio was down 93-90 with 8.5 seconds left, and Dylan Harper had two free throws on deck. Two makes would still give them a chance, but he ended up missing both, and that was the game.
The total score of this series was Knicks 522 and Spurs 510. It was a close battle every game. The difference was that one team was ready for the pressure moments, and the other team was too young.
One person who deserves a lot of credit is the coach, Mike Brown. Everyone was shocked by Tom Thibodeau’s firing after the Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference finals in 2025.
The franchise took a gamble going to Brown after such a successful season. The expectations for him going into the season were sky high. Anything short of a finals appearance would have been disappointing.
Instead, Brown unlocked a whole new level for this team. He brought better ball and player movement to the team. He instilled a brand of basketball he was all too familiar with as an Assistant Coach for the Golden State Warriors in their prime.
New York averaged 26.7 assists per game in this year’s playoffs. It was a significant jump from 22.8 a year ago. This offense was more equal opportunity and less isolation basketball, which allowed his players to stay fresh as the game went on. It’s no coincidence that Brunson played his best ball in the fourth quarter in these playoffs.
This Knicks team will never be forgotten.
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