<\/p>\n
They carried the weight of an entire city.<\/p>\n
A city that had dared to dream before, only to be let down.<\/p>\n
UFC FREEDOM 250 | MONDAY 15 JUNE 10AM AEST | UFC Freedom 250 delivers a landmark night of fights from the White House, with Topuria vs Gaethje leading a stacked card celebrating America\u2019s 250th anniversary | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Like they were when the Knicks last met the Spurs in the NBA Finals, going on an improbable run as a No.8 seed only to fall short against David Robinson and Tim Duncan.<\/p>\n Like they were when Patrick Ewing was traded the following year and head coach Jeff Van Gundy resigned a few months later, marking the end of an era of Knicks basketball that promised so much but ultimately \u2014 yet again \u2014 did not end with a ring.<\/p>\n And so they waited.<\/p>\n Until, again, they were given a reason to believe. A trade for former All-Star Antonio McDyess, which was supposed to see the Knicks return to contention.<\/p>\n Instead, the move \u2014 which cost the Knicks their starting centre, point guard, and lottery pick \u2014 went down as one of the worst in franchise history.<\/p>\n McDyess didn\u2019t play a single game in the 2002-03 season due to his knee injury and was later traded away the following season after making just 18 appearances, averaging 8.4 points.<\/p>\n The same old Knicks.<\/p>\n Carmelo Anthony brought the fans to their feet, as did Jeremy Lin. But they weren\u2019t left standing for very long.<\/p>\n The celebration was fleeting. The agony seemed endless.<\/p>\n MORE NBA FINALS NEWS<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n FINALS MVP: King of New York crowned after 45-point performance<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n \u2018REMARKABLE\u2019: The mysterious man behind Knicks\u2019 title-winning roster<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n A lingering sense of disillusionment that seemed just as inescapable as the spotlight that forever stayed on the franchise itself.<\/p>\n That was the New York Knicks. That was what it meant to be the biggest market in basketball.<\/p>\n And so, when they traded not only a homegrown talent but the face of the franchise, Kristaps Porzingis, in 2019, it seemed like another case of the same old Knicks.<\/p>\n Instead, it was the start of a revival: the first step on a path towards a breakthrough NBA title, with the Knicks defeating the Spurs on Sunday to close out this year\u2019s Finals series 4-1<\/a> and lift the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy for the first time since 1973.<\/p>\n It capped off what Richard Jefferson called \u201cone of the most remarkable runs in NBA history\u201d for a Knicks team that outscored its opponents by 272 points on the way to the Finals, and in the end fell just one game short of matching Golden State\u2019s 15-game win streak in 2017.<\/p>\n You know, that Warriors team. The one with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson that finished the regular season 67\u201315 and went on a 16-1 playoff run.<\/p>\n This Knicks team just went 15-1, and according to The Athletic\u2019s Sam Vecenie, it may be the best playoff offence since those KD Warriors.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s because they have so many different ways they can kill you,\u201d Vecenie added<\/a>.<\/p>\n Again, that wasn\u2019t always the case. McDyess is just one of the names. Anthony too. There was also Andrea Bargnani. Eddy Curry. Charles Smith.<\/p>\n The big fish that the Knicks of old went after to try to find the shortest path possible to the championship that had eluded them for so long.<\/p>\n Durant and Kyrie Irving were supposed to be the next names on that list after the Knicks shipped off Porzingis. And they did end up in New York, except with the other team.<\/p>\n It left the Knicks brass \u201cstunned and depressed\u201d, according to a report from The Athletic<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n Instead, a few years later they ended up with Jalen Brunson.<\/p>\n But he was too small. Overpaid on the four-year, $104 million contract the Knicks signed him to, which, with the benefit of hindsight, now looks like a bargain.<\/p>\n An even bigger bargain, however, was the four-year, $156.5 million extension Brunson signed in 2024, leaving $113 million on the table<\/a> to be the marquee man at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n \u201cBuild him a statue,\u201d Josh Hart tweeted at the time.<\/p>\n At this point, they can\u2019t build Brunson a statue big enough to show just how much he means to the city of New York.<\/p>\n According to ESPN, Brunson saw what Derek Jeter, Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady had done before him: the way they made financial sacrifices, the \u201cblueprint\u201d they provided for building a sustainable roster.<\/p>\n Brunson sacrificed millions for a moment like this.<\/p>\n \u201cHe comes and he probably takes a pay cut that I wouldn\u2019t have taken,\u201d Knicks coach Mike Brown said post-game.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time they would\u2019ve thrown that number in front of me, I would have said no, and I feel like I\u2019m a good guy. He set the bar before he even stepped on the floor. Every time it came to renegotiate a deal with him.<\/p>\n \u201cThat set the standard. Now when you take his play into account, it\u2019s off the charts \u2026 Brunson is him, man, when it comes to New York basketball \u2014 he is freaking him.\u201d<\/p>\n “I’m in AWE!” Brunson’s NBA Title moment | 01:13<\/p>\n The former Dallas guard said he was \u201cnot a saviour in any way, shape or form\u201d when he signed with New York in 2022.<\/p>\n Try telling that to Knicks fans now.<\/p>\n Karl-Anthony Towns. OG Anunoby. Brunson\u2019s old Villanova teammates, including Mikal Bridges, whom the Knicks gave up five first-round picks to acquire.<\/p>\n They\u2019re all only there because he was willing to put the team first.<\/p>\n Now he has the Bill Russell Trophy for Finals MVP to show for it. His teammates have an NBA ring.<\/p>\n \u201cHe will be the king of New York for the rest of his life,\u201d as veteran caller Mike Breen put it.<\/p>\n Brunson was just one of several underdogs on this Knicks roster \u2014 players who, for whatever reason, were cast aside. Written off.<\/p>\n Traded, like Josh Hart was \u2014 three different times \u2014 until he found his \u201chome\u201d in New York.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they embraced me for the person that I am, the player that I am,\u201d Hart added.<\/p>\n Towns was traded too, despite never requesting a trade in nine years, according to The Athletic\u2019s Timberwolves beat writer Jon Krawczynski. Jos\u00e9 Alvarado was undrafted.<\/p>\n In many ways, a roster that is a reflection of the city itself.<\/p>\n \u201cThis city is built on toughness, grit, blue-collar people,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019m the same person. They can look in the mirror and see myself, just because that\u2019s how I look at myself, and I just happen to hoop.\u201d<\/p>\n The people of New York needed every bit of that toughness and grit to get through the last 53 years.<\/p>\n Sure, there were some moments to remember. But there were plenty to forget. Franchise-worst 17-65 records in the 2014-15 and 2018-19 seasons. Even before then, there were nine straight losing seasons from 2002 to 2010.<\/p>\n Zach Lowe called that version of the Knicks a \u201csideshow outside of the real NBA\u201d on his podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs irrelevant as a basketball team, as a franchise, could get,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Veteran NBA journalist Howard Beck, who has lived in New York for 22 years, had several words to describe the past two decades or so of Knicks basketball.<\/p>\n \u201cBeleaguered, bedraggled, dysfunctional, inept,\u201d he said on Lowe\u2019s podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cDysfunction above all else.<\/p>\n \u201cI just need people outside of New York to understand \u2026 this is earned. It goes deeper and uglier and just messier than all that \u2026 this is earned through a quarter century essentially of suffering and not just bad teams, not just losing teams, but at one point in time, Larry Brown is the coach, Stephon Marbury is the point guard and Isiah Thomas is the team president \u2014 and all three of them are in fights with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n But now?<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s in sync,\u201d Beck added.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody knows their role. There are very few moments where you see anything glaring, something that looks a little bit selfish, a little bit self-indulgent, or just a dumb play. They\u2019re just playing very smart, efficient, consistent basketball. It\u2019s a joy to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n And joy isn\u2019t a word that has usually been associated with the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n