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Jalen Brunson, Knicks exorcise 53 years of demons in stirring NBA title run
- Updated: June 20, 2026
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks exorcised 53 years of demons in this remarkable title run. (AP Photo)
Jalen Brunson looked like a man possessed.
But not just possessed by any old demon– he looked like he was channeling the spirit of Michael Jordan, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Isiah Thomas (as a player— important distinction for Knicks fans).
He trotted up and down the court, mean-mugging and draining shots, willing his team to its first NBA title in 53 years, which in the basketball Mecca made him akin to a prophet.
As he was doing things only he and Michael Jordan had ever done, Knicks fans could only think back to everything they’d endured over the course of their lives as fans.
Stepback, turn in the lane, floater.
That’s for Patrick Ewing.
Pull-up 3 off the dribble, plus the foul.
That’s for Anthony Mason.
Cross up Wemby, blow past him and somehow craftily lay the ball up at a moment in space and time when the 7-foot-5 man’s Stretch Armstrong limbs weren’t in the path of the cylinder.
That’s for John Starks.
More and more shots fell as the Knicks battled back from double digits down, yet again, in the waning moments of Game 5 in San Antonio.
More Knicks to shout out with each bucket– even, nah, especially the bad ones.
That’s for Jerome James. Eddy Curry. Frank Ntilikina.
He was unpacking old trauma as he undressed each defender. How about names like David Lee, Channing Frye and Nate Robinson? Remember Lou Amundson or Ron Baker? Langston Gallaway? Yeah, Knicks fans have been through a lot.
As the seconds melted off the clock in San Antonio and Brunson’s point total climbed higher, it was a near-religious experience for Knicks fans. 53 years of pain, 53 years of heartbreak, then abject embarrassment, then— it seemed for the last few years, false hope.
“Hey, New York, I’m sorry it took so long,” owner James Dolan said as he was being presented the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time.
They may not all forgive him, but every Knicks fan could feel exactly what that meant. Dolan was for decades an absolutely miserable owner, sports’ version of a dictator foisted on a populace that deserved so much better. Knicks fans love their team with a passion that is nearly unmatched in the NBA, even when Dolan oversaw obviously-flawed, inadequate rosters in the best of times and abjectly dismal ones almost as often. Fans were delusional about their team’s chances almost every season, talking themselves into Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickly as the guys who would deliver the Larry O.B.
Not only did Dolan keep his populace under reigns, he told fans to reject the evidence of their eyes and ears. He banned Frank Isola and Charles Oakley. He kicked fans out of the Garden for holding up signs imploring him to sell the team.
But then, in the last few years, it’s as if the old dictator went benevolent. He stopped pretending he knew better than basketball experts. He hired Leon Rose, who signed Jalen Brunson, brought in pieces around him and assembled a group that resembled a winner.
And then? Well, they took a bold stance in firing Tom Thibodeau, who last spring helped orchestrate the biggest upset of the playoffs as the Knicks stunned the defending champion Celtics. Not many would have made that move. Few seemed confident it was a step forward when they hired Mike Brown.
Dolan spoke to the team before the playoffs began, delivering a legitimately inspiring speech not many would’ve thought he had in him. It may have been a bigger upset than the team’s 16-3 blitz through the playoffs.
“I believe that this team can go all the way,” Dolan told the team. “And in my 30 years of doing this, I’ve never felt closer to achieving that goal.”
And finally, for the first time in three decades, he was right.
Brown was brilliant, utilizing subs (unlike his predecessor), trusting his players, making adjustments and running a coaching clinic on the young Mitch Johnson. The team couldn’t quit, wouldn’t quit, as we saw in all five Finals games, including the insane 29-point comeback in Game 4 that will go down as the greatest in NBA history.
As for what it means to fans in New York? It’s hard to put into words.
This team unites and defines the city more than any other in any sports. It’s truly New York’s, all of New York’s, and it’s Manhattan’s, playing in The World’s Most Famous Arena on one of its most famous blocks.
Basketball Mecca has its messiah.
And finally, after a half-century, the Knicks have another title.
