As Jamal Murray’s shot clanked off the rim and the final seconds on the clock expired, the ball fell to Karl-Anthony Towns, who looked down at his own hand in amazement at what he and his Minnesota Timberwolves team had just done.

For the first time in exactly 20 years, the Timberwolves were headed to the Western Conference Finals after defeating the defending champion Denver Nuggets in Game 7, coming back from 20 points down in the second half, with Towns leading the Timberwolves in scoring.

As KAT went from the visitors’ locker room at Ball Arena to the postgame press conference podium, he walked side-by-side with longtime Timberwolves reporter and Minnesotan Jon Krawczynski, who reminded Towns to take a beat and soak in everything that had just been accomplished.

Towns and Krawczynski, both pillars of the Timberwolves community, had seen it all: countless losing seasons, a carousel of coaches and general managers, a disastrous year with Jimmy Butler that saw Towns’s name sullied in the eyes of many, and, worst of all, a COVID pandemic and the loss of Towns’ beloved mother Jacqueline.

On the court, there were moments of immaturity as the growing process wasn’t always linear. Towns started as one of the “Timberpups,” and grew into the role of Timberwolves franchise player. He eventually became a multi-time All-NBA player who had just taken the Wolves to a place that only Kevin Garnett had before.

The feeling for KAT that night in Denver was one of validation. All the hard work he had put in, everything he had been through personally and on the court with the Timberwolves organization, had been worth it. Not only was the franchise that drafted Towns nine years earlier finding success, but they were doing it with him and because of him.

Everything in KAT’s Timberwolves tenure to that point led to that moment. Through all the turmoil during his nine seasons in Minnesota, Towns, like Andy Dufresne, had crawled through a river of sewage and come out clean on the other side.

“How much more we gotta lose?” Towns said in the most KAT way possible after the game about his team, “We’ve been losing for 20 years.”

That magical night in Denver may have been the first time Towns ended a team’s decades-long drought, but it would not be the last. On Saturday night in San Antonio, the New York Knicks, with Towns at center, became NBA champions for the first time in 53 years.

The Knicks and Towns stormed through the 2026 NBA Playoffs on their way to the title. New York finished with a 16-3 record in the playoffs, including nine straight road wins while clinching all four series away from Madison Square Garden. Among NBA champions, this Knicks team set the record for best Net Rating in a single postseason, outpacing the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2017 Golden State Warriors.

KAT himself finished with an NBA record plus/minus of +262 during the playoff run, finishing ahead of Steph Curry in 2017 (+246), Draymond Green in 2017 (+229), his teammate Jalen Brunson (+224), and Kobe Bryant in 2001 (+213).

The feeling again has to be validation for Towns, and this time, maybe even vindication.

Karl proved all of his doubters incorrect. People said he was soft, that he didn’t work hard enough, and that he didn’t have enough basketball IQ. They said KAT wouldn’t be able to control the “stray voltage” on the biggest stage, that he’d be unwilling to play as a team’s #2, or that he didn’t have the defensive ability to lead a quality defense at the center position.

All of it wrong.

“You work your whole life for this moment,” Towns said to ABC’s Ernie Johnson with the Larry O’Brien trophy in his hands. “Throughout my career, I’ve seen myself fall down. People tell me to stay down, and I got back up. Even when I was in the mud, I kept putting my left foot in front of my right foot.”

The trade that sent KAT from the Timberwolves to the Knicks was nuanced and will surely be debated in Minnesota for years to come. It was brought on in large part by the NBA’s then-new second apron, which punished teams for being a certain level above the luxury tax threshold, as the Wolves were in the summer of 2024.

While the success or failure of the trade for the Wolves is still up in the air, what is clear is that Towns still has an immense respect for the Timberwolves organization, his former teammates, including Anthony Edwards, and all the people of Minnesota.

The journey for Towns to get to this point was a long one. It started when the Wolves selected a 19-year-old kid out of the University of Kentucky, and it was filled with every manner of obstacles, difficulties, and loss. Through it all, Karl came out of it a better player and a better person.

“Y’all know my story, you’ve heard my story,” Towns said. “I just want to say, thank you, Momma, I appreciate you getting me one.”

New York Knicks.

2026 NBA Champions.

Mic drop.

Mike Brown

On Jalen Brunson being a true No. 1 star:

“I hope you guys will listen to me, he is a top-three MVP candidate. Everybody kind of mentions his name in passing, they don’t do it seriously enough — people say he’s too small, people say he’s a 1B or a 2B or whatever, he is a freaking 1A. I hope tonight you guys, and I’m talking to the media more than the fans, but I hope you guys recognize what this man is all about because he is A1 MVP — he is him.”

On Jalen Brunson being the face of New York basketball:

“He comes, and he probably takes a pay cut that I wouldn’t have taken, every time they would have thrown that number in front of me would have said no, and I feel like I’m a good guy.”

On the significance of the Knicks franchise:

“There are a couple of franchises that are pretty iconic just because of the history that they have, the location that they’re in, sometimes even the building that they’re in. New York is definitely one of the few that you could say that to in all three facets. Everybody goes through their ups and downs. I don’t really think much about the tough times [the Knicks] had because everybody has tough times, including individuals. You just want to try the best you can to be a part of whatever you can to bring joy to the city, to the organization. I feel blessed, fortunate, lucky, to be a part of what is going on now.”

On bringing a title to New York:

“It’s just a heck of a win. To have these fans that we have in New York City, and to bring home a championship to them after all of these years, it’s just an absolutely amazing. It’s surreal – I don’t know how long it’s been since that final buzzer, but I still don’t believe it. I’m pinching myself, I’m telling myself to try to be present, and all of the stuff I tell my guys every day because I still just can’t believe it.”

On his staff, players, and the Knicks organization:

“My staff, they carried me all year. Our players are fantastic – they’ve been ready from Day 1, and it’s not just our top-five, but 1 through 18 they have been ready from Day 1 of the season. You saw it we called on different guys at different times and every time they stepped up – I love my players, I love the organization, but most importantly Let’s Go New York, we can’t wait to get home and celebrate.”

Jalen Brunson

On winning a championship:

“It’s everything I dreamed of. It’s why I came to New York.”

On the Knicks’ late-game identity:

“For some reason I feel like the game for us starts for us 30 minutes later than it’s supposed to. We don’t show up at 8:30. We show up at 9 p.m.”

On winning the title:

“It’s everything I dreamed of. This is why I picked New York.”

On his emotions after the championship:

“Holy s—. I’ve got no words. Everything I ever dreamed of. I don’t know what I’m feeling. I’m in awe, I don’t know. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it.”

On where his confidence comes from:

“My confidence comes from my work ethic. Every time I had the ball, all I could think about was all the hours I put in the summer… into making this a reality. So whenever I got the ball, I just thought about me being alone in the gym.”

On finding a way to win:

“We’re going to find a way, whatever you put in front of us, we’re going to find a way. I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

On becoming a champion:

“I got no words. Everything I ever dreamed of. I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

On winning Finals MVP:

“It was definitely more emotional than I thought it would be. Once I got on stage and everything, it started to settle, but it’s everything I dreamed of, seriously. I woke up this morning not wanting to play another game. At some point, I knew I was going to win [an NBA Championship]. The opportunity presented itself, and I didn’t want it to slip away.”

On the journey to a championship:

“Words can’t describe it. I put a lot of time and effort into being the best player I can be, and I’m just really thankful to have a coaching staff and teammates who have my back every day. At the final buzzer, I walked right to half court, shook Mitch Johnson’s hand, and turned around. My dad was there, and I felt emotions from that point on. But it still hasn’t sunk in. I honestly don’t know right now. I’m just thankful for the opportunity, and we were able to get it done. Through hard work and effort, I knew this was achievable, but it was only a small portion of it. Tonight, we played like we wanted to finish the game as champions. It means the world to me to go on the court with those guys.”

On his reaction to the championship:

“I got no words. It’s everything I’ve dreamt of. I don’t know what I’m feeling. I’m just like… I’m in awe. I don’t know. Whenever someone counts us out, we find a way to come back and do something about it.”

On his preparation and work ethic:

“My confidence comes from my work ethic. Every time I got the ball, all I could think about is all the hours in the summer. For every summer I had, since I ever could remember, making this a reality. Whenever I had the ball, I’m just thinking about just me alone in the gym.”

On the Knicks’ resilience:

“We’re going to find a way. Whatever you put in front of us, we’re going to find a way. It doesn’t matter. It does not matter whatsoever. We’re going to find a way every single time we step on this court. Every f–king time. Every time.”

On the “1A” haters:

“I didn’t respond to them then and I’m damn sure not going to respond to them now.”

On winning all of his NBA and college titles in Texas:

“I have nothing against Texas. I love Texas. I miss the Texas taxes.”

On his mentality:

“I’m just never afraid to fail.”

On what it took to win the championship and score 45 points:

“Everything.”

On finishing the job in Game 5:

“Tonight, we played like we wanted to go home champions, to finish the game. Not to start the game, to finish the game.”

On winning a championship:

“Words can’t describe it. I put a lot of time and effort into trying to be the best player I can be to try and help a team win. Just really thankful to have the organization, the coaching staff, my teammates, to have my back every single day.”

On playing through injury after yet another dirty Victor Wembanyama play:

“I’m hurting right now, I’m not going to lie to you. I’m hurting right now, but like i said before, the opportunity presented itself. Whatever you gotta do.”

Mikal Bridges

On when he knew Jalen Brunson would become a star:

“I knew through college, but I really knew when he signed (with the Knicks). I knew what he was going to do, especially in the league we play in. Him having the ball and being able to be ball dominant … his efficiency is out of the roof. I knew what he was going to be able to do with the ball in his hands here, more than what he was able to do in Dallas.”

On the five-pick trade and the haters:

“You talking about f–-k them picks. Very grateful. F–-k ’em. Through the times I’ve been struggling, fans said things about me, I want to always be better. Keep pushing me. I appreciate the tough love.”

On Knicks fans pushing him to improve:

“Given all of the times I’ve been struggling and our fans are on me, I want to always be better – so however they feel I always want to be better. I just hope that I’m still here and they just keep that edge and keep pushing me. If they strongly believe we have a chance every year and they strong believe they need me to be better I’m already thinking that – I appreciate the tough love, I know some fans might be crazier than others, but the ones that truly care, they just want me to be better so don’t stop now.”

Josh Hart

On the pressure of wearing a Knicks jersey:

“We don’t really talk about it, but the weight of that jersey. The expectations, the pressure of that jersey. Right now, it’s the lightest it’s ever felt.”

On Mike Brown’s impact on the Knicks:

“Mike was invaluable to this run. He knows what it is to be a champion. He knows how to build a team, how to build habits that will put you in this position. We’re so grateful to have him at the top. He kept us even at so many times. He brought the best out of us. He’s the reason why we’re here.”

On the Knicks’ togetherness:

“Oh, man, it’s been invaluable. I think you can look at the play (in Game 4), I missed the layup . . . I miss, and we come down and foul Wemby. I think I fouled him or KAT fouled him or whatever [Anunoby fouled him], and I ended up on the ground. I was frustrated and kind of down on myself. You see JB, KAT, Jose run up to me and pick me up. You see Landry [Shamet] on the bench yelling at me to get up and those kinds of things.

“When you have a team that has that kind of togetherness in the most adverse situations, that breeds championship habits and a championship team. I feel like we can go down the line of every guy in that locker room that has had moments like that during the season, and everyone has been there to pick each other up. When you have a team that can do that, no matter what happens in a game, you feel like you can get through it.”

On staying even through highs and lows:

“In an 82-game season, especially in New York, you know, there’s going to be mountains and valleys. If we win three or four in a row, you know, you’re the best team in the league. If you lose three or four in a row, everybody is on the trade block. We know that and that’s why during the course of a season, you try to stay even and you try to continue to build those habits, championship habits, that put you in that position at the end of the year.

“And that’s what you focus on. Sometimes it’s not about the result; it’s about the process. You know, every game, every second, every practice of the season, it led us to this point.”

On finally finding a home in New York:

“I had so much instability, traded, different coaches, and I found a home in New York and they embraced me. This city is built on toughness, grit, blue-collar people, and I feel like I’m the same person. They can look in the mirror and they can see [me].”

On the Nova Knicks:

“Those are my brothers for life. We have a bond that’ll never be broken. We won a championship together in college, but this one obviously takes the cake. We’ve been built for this moment. We’ve all been forged in the fire … Coach [Jay] Wright helped us be cut from a different cloth. No matter the moment, it’s never too big for us.”

OG Anunoby

On winning the championship:

“We did it.”

On Jalen Brunson:

“He’s an amazing player and he showed the world tonight.”

On the Knicks’ celebration:

“Just excitement, everyone just happy for each other.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On Jalen Brunson:

“Shout-out to everybody who told him he couldn’t do it because it gave him fuel for the fire. I think I speak for me and OG when I say it’s been an honor to be brought to this team to amplify him.”

On his father:

“He’s been everything to me. He taught me the game of basketball.”

On bringing the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the Dominican Republic:

“Hell yeah, I’m bringing the trophy over there!”

On Jalen Brunson leaving Gatorade at the podium:

“You know JB’s happy, he left the Gatorade up here!”

On the Knicks’ unity:

“I talk about our unity, our connectivity. We just continue to believe in each other and believe in our team, our game plan. Whatever needs to be adjusted in the game, us as players will always talk it out, and we’re willing to have those conversations that are difficult. We’re willing to keep each other accountable.

“Regardless of what happens, we know, like I said, we all we got and we all we need, and it’s more than enough to have a chance to win every single night. I know a lot of people talk about it. I know you’ve heard a ton of people come up on this mic and say the same thing, but I hope our team shows the world that we truly mean it. Even though last year we didn’t get the job done, that unity and that connectivity and that continuity has always shown itself.

“I think that last game is just another example of us talking about how connected we are together and how much we truly do have love for each other as teammates, as a team, as brothers, as a family. Only brothers would keep each other going, especially in the game where it was last game. Because of that family, family stays close. When things got really bad, we got closer. We didn’t start fading away from each other.”

On feeling the presence of his late mother and the support of Jordyn Woods:

“Her presence is always felt in my life. You always pray you’re going to pick the right woman for you and I know I did in my fiancé. I damn sure know now with that bag, that bag held it down. Shout-out to Woods by Jordyn.

It’s crazy, when she passed, there was so much turmoil in my life. Funny enough, my fiancé was the one, who was a friend at the time, was the only person I got to call before I had to go out there and say bye to her at the hospital. Me and her have a real bond that goes deeper than just physical features and everything like that. We’ve got a true friendship that was built from the ground up.

I remember just always asking her if this was going to be my last time seeing her in the physical, let me feel her spirit at all times. In moments of true pressure and a lot of things going on, I always feel this calming come to me and it’s always her. It’s just great to always feel her arms around me and always to feel her love in my life, in so many different ways.

It’s a testament. I haven’t felt love from a woman like that until I met my fiancé. It really means a lot that, in a way – without sounding weird – Jackie Jr. was able to be here celebrating this moment with me.

It’s amazing. It’s truly a humbling feeling when you know you have walked the path. I stayed faithful. In every decision that I was supposed to make, I made the right one. Feels good to be at this moment.

“Y’all heard my story, y’all know my story. I just want to say: Thank you Mama, I appreciate you getting me one.”

On finally winning a championship:

“You work your whole life for this moment. As they always said with this team, it is written for New York.”

Mitchell Robinson

On bringing the monster truck to the championship parade:

“I just got asked to put my truck in it so I’m gonna be really excited.”

On Jalen Brunson’s Game 5 performance:

“It was unreal.”

On snakes being the Knicks’ lucky charm:

“You know what’s crazy? Yesterday at the hotel I caught a snake. I think it’s something about snakes.”

On finally winning a title with the Knicks:

“I’ve seen the recipe being made. I’ve been here when we’ve won 17 games, when we’ve won 60 games, and to finally be able to get it done in 2026, it’s been amazing.”

On his offensive rebounding and his late effort:

“That’s just something I always do. I trust my guys that they are going to make them, but I’m just going crash anyway – luckily I did and came up with a big rebound.

“Grabbed it, kicked it out and they fouled us again, so we got a chance to shoot two more and I almost got it again, so I’m just going to continue to do that.”

Landry Shamet

On Jalen Brunson carrying the team:

“We owe him. We weren’t great offensively tonight, but he is generationally great offensively.”

On winning a championship:

“Just really proud of this group and excited to celebrate and kick our feet up for a little while and enjoy this. This is special.”

Jose Alvarado

On winning the title with the Knicks:

“This is something we’re going to celebrate for life.”

James Dolan

On the Knicks ending the drought and hunting for more:

“Hey, New York! I’m sorry it took so long, but here we are, and hopefully it won’t take that long again.”

Walt Frazier

On his expectations for Jalen Brunson:

“I thought when we acquired him if he averaged 20 points and six assists it would be good. I thought like other people, in a playoff scenario where you get guys 6-[foot]-6 and 6-7 on him, he would have trouble scoring. But he found a way, against all these guys.”

On Brunson’s place in Knicks history:

“He’s got to be considered one of the greatest Knicks ever. He’s been magnificent the whole playoffs and all season. … Clutch, he’s Mr. Clutch. He comes up with the big baskets. He was the only guy scoring at one time for the Knicks. That kept them in the game.”

On Brunson changing perceptions of small guards:

“Brunson has definitely changed the mindset of that thinking, a guy 6-foot-2 can’t lead a team to a championship.”

On watching the championship run:

“I was living through the eyes of Jalen, saying ‘Wow, I used to be doing that out there on the court.’ I’m sure those guys [from our last championship team] are watching tonight, and they’re very proud of the team like I am.”

On what the title means for the New York Knicks:

“It’s a magnificent night for the fan base and the franchise.”

Patrick Ewing

On finally seeing the Knicks win a title:

“Fourth time is the charm. ’99, I did the same thing I did tonight, just sit and watch and cheer. I take my hat (off) to the team, take my hat off to Jalen. He did an outstanding job with putting us on his back and being able to bring a championship back to New York.”

On what the championship means for New York and the Knicks:

“It means everything to the city. It was a magical run, all the things they were able to accomplish.”

On Karl-Anthony Towns:

“This guy right here, this is my guy, right here.”

Charles Barkley

On Jalen Brunson’s contract sacrifice:

“I want to give him some credit. I want to give, you know, obviously what you said about Brunson, I said, it’s the greatest free agent signing in NBA history, but also he took so much criticism for guys when he took a hundred million dollars less so they could go out and get other players. He deserved like, hey, listen, a hundred million dollars is a lot of money, but he wanted them to go out and get him some help, and they went on and got him some help, and they are the World Champs.”

Mike Breen

On the Knicks’ title-winning moment:

“It’s over! It’s over! Knick fans, this is not a dream! Your long, long wait is ended. Go ahead and cry: after 53 years, the Knicks are finally NBA Champions once again!”

Stephen A. Smith

On the Knicks winning the championship:

“I don’t even know how to put it in words because I damn sure didn’t play. I didn’t practice like these guys did, they did it. But it’s been 53 long years, and there’s been so many moments of misery that we had to endure as New York Knick fans. And to be here tonight, I gotta confess until this series I never thought it’d happen.

“So many things have gone wrong: The layups that wasn’t with Charles Smith, the [Patrick] Ewings finger rolls, the Game 7s they didn’t come out on top. Time after time after time… And to be in attendance witnessing the end of a 53-year drought as born in The Bronx, raised in Hollis, Queens, New York City. I’ve been a New York fan all my life, I never thought I’d see it.

“I don’t even know what to say. I can’t put into words how this feels. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life covering sports. I’ve never had a feeling like this. It’s unbelievable.”

On why the Knicks ‘saved’ the NBA:

“Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks saved the NBA with this championship. Stay with me. If the Spurs win the championship, the entire NBA is evolving its scheme around how do you knock off the alien, the 7-foot-5 alien from France. How do you do it?

“Well, guess what? Now that a 6-1 guard, who’s not the most athletic above the rim dude — that ain’t his game, just savvy, brilliant as a basketball savant, footwork extraordinaire — that guy at 6-foot-1 led this team. And in a close-out Game 5 drops 45 on a Spurs defense that was pretty elite. That’s what they did.”

Ben Stiller

On the Knicks winning the championship:

“As happy as I’ve ever felt. It’s pretty amazing. It’s pretty amazing.”

The New York Knicks had been here before. As Jalen Brunson and his band of not-so-merry men stood at the top of this year’s NBA finals, they confronted not just the San Antonio Spurs, their foe on the court, but the very idea of what the Knicks themselves – as a team, as a franchise, as a symbol of New York City – could be. The team’s run to last year’s Eastern Conference finals was thrilling but had the aspect of an underdog romp, and ultimately ended in defeat. Was this the limit of what New York’s fans, Rabelaisian in their rages and saintly in their endless capacity for patience, could expect from their team? Brunson was dogged and clever but perhaps not quite elite, a Stakhanovite toiler in a league built for transcendent talents. Karl-Anthony Towns was elite but perhaps too soft, too sensitive, too “zesty” to carry a team to the NBA’s pinnacle. The questions hanging over the leading pair extended to a team forged in their image. The lineup was good; was it great?

Coach Mike Brown, in his first year with the franchise, had promise but no small amount of baggage, having landed at the Knicks after being dismissed by the Sacramento Kings following a horror start to the 2024/25 season. And then, of course, there was the weight of history: no title since 1973 and a litany of near-misses and false dawns in the intervening decades. New York had watched through the 1980s and 1990s as first Los Angeles, then Chicago (under the guidance of its own son, Phil Jackson, who won the 1973 championship as a Knick) propelled the NBA to global prominence, a narrative in which the Knicks filled the role of a dutiful punching bag. Hakeem Olajuwon’s block on John Starks to kill their hopes in 1994, the tragic heroism of Patrick Ewing, death by Tim Duncan in ’99, and all the fizzled promise of Carmelo and Stoudemire and Linsanity: the memories had faded but the scars lingered. The franchise was destined, it seemed, to remain forever on the fringes, a mournful witness to others’ joy. Could they do it? Surely they couldn’t: the curse of the Knicks had driven the fans, the team, the city itself to despair. Neurosis, not success, was hardwired into New York’s psychology. The center of the universe and the joke of the NBA: the city was Larry Fink off the court, and Larry David on it.

Related: Ecstasy and chaos grip New York City after Knicks win long-sought NBA title – in pictures

Could they do it? They could. Swatting away a half century of hurt, building on the inevitable momentum gathered from their historic comeback in Game 4, and riding their city’s early summer wave of boisterous (though possibly astroturfed) invention, the Knicks are NBA champions for the first time in 53 years. My Christian Dior, Knicks in four? Not quite. But 4-1 supplies an exorcising symmetry, mirroring the scoreline by which the Knicks fell to the very same opponent on their last trip to the finals in 1999. And the rhyme scheme is better this way: they got there in five, and the NBA is alive.

These were the second most-watched finals in NBA history – a testament not only to the size and cultural heft of the New York media market but to the rippling character of the entertainment on the court. Saturday night’s clincher distilled the series as a whole. The Spurs stormed to an early lead (as is their wont) and failed to hold on to it (as is their wont). Dylan Harper – finally given some time to run the play in place of the maligned De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs’ Game 4 scapegoat – hit a series of silky midrangers, and Julian Champagnie got into his groove from beyond the arc. Victor Wembanyama did what Victor Wembanyama does, which is cry and cajole and be much taller than everyone else. San Antonio’s divine linguine unfurled a volley of blocks, and then came those trademark second and third and fourth tips, which give Wemby the air of a stalled windmill or an unnailed Jesus, arms held out in supplication as the ball rebounds off his outstretched hands and cannons back towards the basket. At times Saturday night, as throughout these finals, he was tipping almost totally to himself, playing a game of one in the rare air above the rim. The Spurs’ lead stretched to 15 midway through the third quarter. The French star’s bullish pre-game predictions about a title in seven (“Everybody knows we’re gonna do it”) seemed on course to come true.

And then: San Antonio met their unsmiling assassin. Brunson went the full Bunsen, embarking on a historic second-half scoring spree to comprehensively incinerate the Spurs’ hopes of extending the series to a sixth game. Brunson was unanimously named finals MVP virtually the moment the game ended, and it’s no wonder: he had the highest-scoring finals series from a point guard in NBA history, and became just the second player in 50 years to record a 45-point closeout game in the championship-deciding series. Michael Jordan did it at the age of 35 in Game 6 of the 1998 finals, his last appearance for the Bulls; Brunson has done it at 29, and only a fool would bet against him replicating Saturday night’s outrageous punctuating stomp of a performance in future finals series.

Part of what makes these Knicks so fun to watch is how steely and unemotional they are, both on and off the court. Where other teams mince and peacock, they downplay and deflect. They’re a quiet team for a loud city: while Wembanyama was busy declaring “we’re gonna do it”, Brunson remained steadfast that the Knicks’ mentality going into Game 5 would be “zero-zero”. But amid all the “application” and “grit” – the two words that are usually thrown around to describe this champion ensemble – there’s a real craftiness there too, combined with an insatiable appetite for the game. More than any other title-winning team in recent NBA history these players love being on the court, and seem quite happy to make playing basketball the focus of their ambitions. They don’t dream of horses in Serbia or their next brand partnerships as they play; they dream of basketball.

Brunson is the soul of the team’s commitment, to each other and to the game, but he’s also something singular, a ball of gristle and will who blooms into grace and artistry just as you’re convincing yourself his game is all about graft. There’s a real density to his physique, which has offered a pleasing visual contrast over the course of these finals to Wembanyama’s reedy elasticity. The right shoulder – dropped and tucked as he barrels into the paint – and the left knee – raised with the delicacy of a drinking pinkie as he steps back to shoot – are Brunson’s main physical weapons, and he deploys them to devastating effect. Time and time again these finals we saw Brunson beaver and fend and bustle into the mix then pull back, the angles aligned to his satisfaction, for one of those impossibly high and gymnastic shots, the ball easing through the net as if with a sigh. This is the Jalen Brunson Guarantee: where there is bullying, there is also beauty.

Brunson, remember, is just 6ft 2in, and on court he looks even shorter. Much of his best offensive work in the finals was performed under the pressure of a double team and facing the attention of Wembanyama, who has more than a foot on him in height. A man of Brunson’s comparatively slight stature is not supposed to excel in basketball – in an earlier era perhaps, but not in the modern NBA, where the bigs handle the ball like point guards and the direction of physical travel is up, up, up. Yet here we are. A series that began with tremors of anxiety about how to stop a 7ft 4in freak of nature – and what it would do to the sport for such an outlandish and improbable talent to dominate the league for years to come – ends with the primacy of the human, the dogged, and the squat emphatically reaffirmed. The time of the short kings is upon us.

This was not a title built on the talents of one man alone, of course, but on speed in transition, blistering ball movement and a kind of sacrificial defensive commitment in the paint that recalled, at times, the very best of the Knicks’ brutish 1990s pomp. OG Anunoby, a fortress in defense, will best be remembered in these finals for his last-second tip to win Game 4, now destined to become the defining image of the Knicks’ historic charge to the summit. Towns, the No 1 pick in the 2015 draft who came to the Knicks in 2024, finally silenced the critics (of his game, of his voice, of his personality, of his everything) and picked up the title his rich talent deserves. Josh Hart is a noted menace under the glass but his best work these playoffs came from pushes in transition. In many ways he is the most violently lateral player in the NBA, a man whose guiding ambition seems to be to traverse the court’s 94ft of hardwood parallel to the ground. Some players glide across the floor; others juggle or dance or storm. Hart torpedoes. Mitchell Robinson played an important support role, receiving Wembanyama’s (now plainly incorrect) Game 4 taunt that he was “in” Robinson’s “head” and supplying the comic relief with his delightfully awful free throws.

Like Brunson, many of these players are around 30, and many of them have taken similarly winding paths – filled with doubt and public mockery – to basketballing nirvana. Can they stick together and build a dynasty? The back office arrangements are in their favor, but the recent history of the NBA, with no repeat champion since 2018, suggests it will be tough. The Spurs, with two recent first and second picks on the roster, are bursting with talent and youth. All they need is to figure out how to protect a lead, score in the fourth quarter and not pass into each other’s backs.

Related: ‘It’s euphoria’: New York City celebrates Knicks’ NBA title win after 53-year wait

After the gloom of the past few years – the negativity surrounding the league’s clammy accommodations with oil powers and private equity money; the “small town” finals featuring teams from Oklahoma City and Indiana; and the worries over tanking, the strategy by which franchises have tried to game the draft through regular-season failure – these finals brought a rinse of glamour back to the NBA. The series had the contrast of brilliant youth (San Antonio) against grizzled experience (New York); it had prodigious height (Wemby) and alien application (Brunson); it gave us TayTay, Hargitay and Chalamet in the front row, amped and activated into their LET’S GOs after every OG block and Landry Shamet three. In its hysteria, magnetism and sheer fizzing celebrity power, it reached back to the league’s halcyon days, summoning the tap and dazzle of Showtime and Jordan’s Bulls. More than just a basketball series, this felt like a cultural event – the type of thing that will define an era, or at the very least provide easy visual fodder for the documentarians in years to come. (“The 2020s: when fascism came to America, democratic socialism stormed New York, and the Knicks won their first title in half a century.”)

Most of all, this series had what the NBA has been quietly craving for five decades: a title for the biggest and baddest city in the land, a place with basketball in its blood and precious little silverware to show for it. This was a victory for holding on, for believing, for never giving up, for letting San Antonio implode. But it was also a victory for New York City – for all the fans who’ve spent decades living the particular psychodrama that is the Knicks, glued to the misery, resigned to the worst. A new sun is shining on pickup games across Elmhurst, Canarsie, Sheepshead Bay and Mott Haven. For years, the Knicks have watched as other teams and other cities write the NBA’s story. Now, New York ascends.

Shortly after the Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973, captain Jalen Brunson had a simple message for people denying his status as a “1A” player.

“I didn’t respond to them then, I’m damn sure not gonna respond to them now,” Brunson said.

Critics have often said Brunson isn’t a 1A player because he might not fit the typical definition. Large guards like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, and big men like Shaquille O’Neal or Tim Duncan, are examples of what people have traditionally thought of as 1A players.

Brunson has received criticism in the past, most infamously from Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, for being incapable of the 1A status due to his size. But Brunson has been changing the definition of a 1A player with his impact on the Knicks as a franchise.

Brunson was named Finals MVP after scoring 45 points in the championship-clinching Game 5 Saturday night.

He was the unanimous selection for the Bill Russell Trophy as Finals MVP amongst 11 voters. Only three other players have ever scored 45 or more points in a closeout Finals game.

Since being signed to a four-year, $104 million contract in free agency in 2022, Brunson has been the cornerstone of the Knicks’ turnaround. Before Brunson left Dallas for New York, the Knicks had won one playoff series in 21 seasons. In the four years since Brunson came to town, they have won at least one playoff series every season.

The immediate success Brunson has brought to the Big Apple has the signing considered one of the best in NBA history.

“He understands what winning is about,” head coach Mike Brown said. “Now when you take his play into account, it’s off the charts, man. Brunson…he is him, man.

“When it comes to New York basketball, he is freaking him.”