Go Ahead and Cry. You've earned it Knicks fans

 The sun is rising as I’m walking back to write this. Tonight was June 13th, 2026. New Yorkers everywhere will remember every detail of today. I still cannot believe the lightning bolt that is New York City right now. This is a feeling that will last a lifetime.

This is what people mean when teams who have been tortured for years in sports finally win a title. An indescribable but totally unmistakable feeling that is within everyone in this case a 330-mile radius. The Knicks showered in champagne hours ago. Jalen Brunson reached Super Saiyan to help the New York Knicks win a championship for the first time since 1973 what feels like 10 minutes ago. New York City is on fire in the best way possible. This is the energy that I fell in love with when I was five years old and chased when I was in college, except on steroids.

Let me get this out of the way here, I’m not a Knick fan, I am a Brooklyn Nets fan. Yes, we exist. But I understand the importance of this championship. New York is a basketball city. The sport embodies what and when this city is at its best. This title will cement that forever.

Anyway, this night might be the best night ever in New York City. The relief/euphoria that is surrounding and oozing through Knicks fans is incredible.  “It’s over. It’s over. Knick fans this is not a dream. Your long long wait has ended. Go ahead and cry. After 53 years the Knicks are finally NBA Champions once again” is the call that will echo forever throughout the five boroughs until the end of time. Those words were said by the longtime voice of the Knicks and lead broadcaster for the NBA Finals, Mike Breen.

I was working for ESPN NY as the board operator for this game. I knew the Knicks would come back and win this game and thus the championship when Jalen Brunson hit three free throws with 1:26 left in the 3rd quarter. Those points cut the San Antonio Spurs lead from 12 points to nine. The look in Jalen Brunson’s eyes as he was headed to the free throw line was one of “we got these guys again.” Brunson then knocked down all three free throws. This is what this Knicks team did against San Antonio in the NBA Finals—they punched back last. And hard. After steamrolling through the Eastern Conference, they were just more experienced and more connected than the Spurs. Thanks to number 11 the Knicks know how to win in every late game scenario.

Jalen Brunson also hit the final field goal of the game for either team with 1:05 left in the game on a push shot that he blew past Stephon Castle to score and nobody on San Antonio could do anything about his tear drop floater from just inside the key. New York’s point guard finished with 45 points which is tied for 2nd most all-time in a title clinching game with Michael Jordan. The Knicks as a team finished with 94 points. Brunson was very Jordan-like in this series against San Antonio—he would not be denied this chance at immortality. And he would leave no doubt as to who the best player on the floor was. The Knicks captain was also extremely Mamba-like channeling a mental and physical toughness unseen in the NBA since the late-great Kobe Bryant retired in 2016. Although he wasn’t alone on the floor in Game 5 even though the stat sheet and some of the eye test would suggest.

Mitchell Robinson was a mountain of a man standing up to Victor Wembanyama and securing the game with an offensive rebound with 26.1 left on the clock on a Josh Hart missed free throw that would have made the score 92-88. Robinson also held Wembanyama without a point or a rebound for the last 1:53 in the Spurs season. The longest tenured Knick stepped up in the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns who fouled out in just 22 minutes and finished with one basket and two points. Towns is one of the biggest reasons the Knicks were in a position to win a championship, but his Game 5 will be forgotten to history. Robinson’s six offensive rebounds will not.  Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart both hit key three-point shots throughout this game and helped their Villanova brother. Landry Shamet, who wasn’t the same in the NBA Finals as the rest of the playoffs, had five huge points on the brink of clutch time to keep the game close for the best closer in all of basketball. “Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it… we’re gonna find a way. Whatever you put in front of us. We’re gonna find a way, doesn’t matter. Does not matter whatsoever” is what the Knicks Captain proclaimed postgame.

This Knicks team was a team. A group that always did the right thing for the team in route to a champagne and beer-soaked locker room. Someone different at every step of the way helped the team win a ball game on the road to a championship. Whether that win was by 51 points in Atlanta or in last second fashion in The Garden against San Antonio. Every guy who saw the rotation for a flash of a moment during the regular season contributed. Part of that championship DNA dates back to the late 2010s to Villanova University when Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, & Jalen Brunson won a NCAA championship together. It is almost impossible to tap into that level of championship chemistry on the college and pro ranks. The Knicks identified that winning culture, doubled down on it, and are now planning a parade because of it.

“It’s happening Knicks fans. It’s happening. It’s been 53 years but for this moment it’s well worth the wait. A playoff run that’ll go down in history and a team that will live forever. Next stop the Cannon of Heroes. The New York Knicks are NBA Champions!" Those were the words of New York Knicks radio play-by-play announcer Tyler Murray. You could hear the emotion in his voice. A call that as a Knicks fan growing up, he’s been dreaming about forever. It is no longer a dream. And that is worth a good joyous cry.