The Knicks' Mike Brown became the fourth coach from the Gregg Popovich pipeline to win an NBA championship as a head coach.
More facts beyond the box score:
nyti.ms/4enSt9k
Brought me so much joy to write the piece for the newspaper I grew up reading, for the team I grew up watching, for the city that made me who I am. Honored to be part of history. Happy I could do the moment justice in ways only someone from this city can.
A personally melancholy moment for me that my pal Berm wasn’t a part of this. He watched and covered and wrote about a LOT of bad basketball through the years.
Yessss! Drought over. Congrats to Leon Rose. All the gutsy players/HC he brought in did exactly what he envisioned this playoff. 1970. 1973. 2026. #howu
Former Seton Hall players who won NBA rings:
2026: Mark Bryant, Knicks (coach)
2019: Adrian Griffin, Raptors (coach)
1999: Andrew Gaze, Spurs
1951-54: Pep Saul, Royals/Bullets/Lakers
1951: Bob Davies, Royals
1951: Bobby Wanzer, Royals
Mets won fans in the 80s after 1986.
Islanders won fans after winning 4 straight Cups in the 80s.
Jets won fans in the late 60s with Namath.
Unlike other little brother teams, the Nets have yet to cement themselves into NY history — or even achieve relevancy for that matter.
More good news for Knicks fans (who obviously aren’t sleeping tonight!):
—This entire starting 5 is definitely coming back next season.
—All 5 could be back for two seasons if Towns takes his player option and NYK bags the Hart team option. Hard to see why both wouldn’t happen.
New York Knicks charter taking off back home to New York. 2025-26 NBA champions! Beating the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the series. Estimated arrival 8:25am! Last charter flight of the 2025-26 NBA Season!
SAT ➡️ HPN
DL8938
N655DL
#AlwaysKnicks
If there's a lesson to take from these NBA Finals, it's that you don't build a team that looks like the Spurs, the Thunder or the Knicks. You can't do it. You can build the best possible team around your best players and hope that you create something good enough.
Asked Mikal Bridges about this after the game; I used the word ‘expletive’ in my question. “You mean f—- them picks?” he said. Went on to give a great answer, which included an affirmative “F—- them picks”. Will post the video when it’s available.