The New York Knicks are your NBA Champions. To be honest with you, this came as quite a shock to me. The Knicks were not the championship favorites coming into the season, the playoffs, the Conference Finals, or even the NBA Finals. In fact, they were the No. 3 seed coming out of the Eastern Conference.
I, like most, watched the Western Conference Finals thinking that I was watching the deciding series of the playoffs. I figured the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs would take down any team in the East over the course of seven games,
Instead, it took the Knicks just five games to dispatch the Spurs.
I actually enjoyed the outcome. I love what this outcome tells us about the NBA in the modern era.
Up until about a decade ago, the NBA was all about dynasties. But, the NBA has enacted many changes in recent years to break the run of dynasties and lead us to parity..
Let’s take a look at the last eight NBA champions.
2026 – New York Knicks:
2025 – Oklahoma City Thunder
2024 – Boston Celtics
2023 – Denver Nuggets
2022 – Golden State Warriors
2021 – Milwaukee Bucks
2020 – Los Angeles Lakers
2019 – Toronto Raptors
After most of these seasons, I asked myself “Who could possibly beat this team next season?” But all were beaten.
The Knicks have won an NBA championship in what could have been the second year of an OKC dynasty or the first year of a Spurs dynasty, but wasn’t. Next year, it could be Miami, Atlanta, or Indiana that gets hot at the right time and beats the next “unbeatable” team.
New York found their guy, Jalen Brunson, and surrounded him with the pieces he needed. They got long, defensive wings, a stretch big, and a deep enough bench. They built around him well with the pieces that fit best alongside him, and it paid off.
Who will find their guy next year? Rest assured, it will likely be a team that has not won a title over the past eight years.
