Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks to their first title in 53 years as New York explodes
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This is about the game, about overcoming difficulties, about overcoming obstacles, and about a big and beautiful city, but it is depressingly difficult to live in.
But the Knicks, in their first championship in 53 years, are not just a New York story. Their collaboration, discipline and dedication became a national story, a Cinderella story. They touch hearts with the most absurd culture.
Imagine if politicians acted like this. If they put aside their hyper-partisanship and ideology for the good of the country. If their default setting was to cooperate and compromise instead of taking credit and demonizing opponents. Okay, you’re right. It is very difficult to imagine.
It’s not about how many points Jalen Brunson scored (45 in Game 5, when he single-handedly led the Knicks to victory). It’s about how he was long dismissed as weak and underrated (by NBA standards). The 6-foot-2 Brunson, who wasn’t drafted until the second round, had something to prove. Think of all the people who feel undervalued or misunderstood in their work, and how deeply they want to be recognized for their worth.
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A fan celebrates the victory of the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, on the street near Madison Square Garden, in New York City, on June 14, 2026. (Christian Monterosa/REUTERS)
It’s about the biggest city in the world, which is the most frustrating city in the world. I once wrote that New Yorkers live in conditions that would cause riots in any other city, and I have not changed that opinion. Everyone is crammed together. It’s ridiculously full.
As a guy from Brooklyn, who played in the league and in the asphalt jungle, where if you lose you have to sit on the sidelines for a long time, I don’t pretend to be impartial. We played touch football in the street and had to stop every time a car came. That was before we got into the grass field because someone cut a hole in the chain-link fence. Noo Yawk a lot.
Every day more than 4 million people pack themselves into subways, mostly under deep tunnels, and during rush hours they have to stop at a stop and go to the service. Homelessness is a problem both on the subways and on the streets.
Riots broke out in New York City after winning the NBA’s first game in years.
Many people live in tiny houses, with small dens that must double as bedrooms, and pay dearly for the privilege.
New York Knicks fans board buses as they celebrate after winning the NBA Finals in Times Square on June 14, 2026, in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
However, as street crowds gathered in the five cities, they broke into Frank Sinatra’s song: “I wanna be a part of it, New York, New York…”
Other cities have similar problems, so New York is just a big American city: Tall buildings, dirty streets, piles of garbage, lots of panhandlers, struggling schools, bad smells.
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And the traffic is terrible. Only Los Angeles is worse. Don’t show me any surveys, I know. Try entering the Lincoln Tunnel.
That’s why authorities imposed a $9 entrance fee on anyone driving in Manhattan below 60th Street. And parking: Fugeddaboudit!
Unfortunately, some criminals turned violent after the Knicks’ victory. 63 people were arrested, 10 police officers were injured, four people were stabbed and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot. That’s the dark side of New York, which coexists with places like Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
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When I was based in New York, the big stories involved crime. Race riots. They don’t kill. Fifth Central Park. The Star Killer. Al Sharpton was stabbed.
New York Knicks fans watch Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the San Antonio Spurs, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Things aren’t so bad these days in Apple and other cities, but there are still many neighborhoods where you cross the street to avoid trouble.
When I went back to Washington in 1990, I wrote a magazine about Donald Trump on the cover. The hotelier’s tabloid exploits, breathlessly documented by the New York Post – this was before “The Apprentice” – typify a culture where readers thrive on celebrity gossip to distract them from the daily horrors of their lives. He kept calling me. I realized that I would never face this boy again.
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I was in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals when Willis Reed limped off the court for their first championship. I watched on TV in 1973 when the team, now with Earl the Pearl, won again. I knew there would be a century of waiting until the next one, so many years of bad parties.
There’s also a touching father-son story, with Jalen’s father, a walk-on player with the 1999 Knicks who lost in the finals to the San Antonio Spurs, getting revenge — and the often-outspoken younger Brunson breaking down in tears as they embraced.
If you look at the history of movies and television shows, everyone loves a good comeback. And the Knickerbockers provided just that in this series.
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In every win, the team fell behind by double digits and hit a comeback – especially in Game 4, where the New Yorkers, despite a record 29-point deficit, overcame it in the last second with that now famous OG Anunoby tip. Saturday night’s goal was also scored in the last seconds.
Doesn’t that motivate every teenager or young adult who has ever dreamed of hitting that last homer or catching the game-winning touchdown pass?
It was also nice to see the immature 7-foot-5-5 Victor Wembanyama, who has acted as an intimidating villain, missing the final shot in each of the last two contests.
KNICKS SURVIVE TO TAKE A 2-0 NBA GAME BEHIND JALEN BRUNSON’S CLUTCH SINSE SPURS.
I know, it’s only a game. There will be more games, more games, more heroes.
But this one touched raw muscle because the Knicks, who won 13 straight, always came from behind, fueled by a good passing offense, and were labeled as lucky overachievers who would wish for wilting flowers against a “real” tough team.
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