I expected the Knicks to win tonight. I also expect them to win the NBA championship. Two reasons.
One is what I said about the Cavaliers ten years ago: they’re a better story. And something I said about the Warriors in that post applies to the Spurs now: they feel entitled. They just beat the reigning (and favored) champs in the Western Series finals—a series most NBA watchers considered the real finals, because the West is so much better than the East.
The other reason is that the Knicks are a better team. They may be the best basketball team to come along in many years. Their chemistry is epoxy. The cliché they keep repeating is “We play for each other.” This is what Bill Simmons calls The Secret. The Knicks have it. So do the Spurs, but not to the same degree. Three of the Knicks—Brunson, Hart, and Bridges—won college championships together at Villanova and have a real brotherhood: one with a gravity that pulls in the rest of the team.
They also have the real MVP: Jalen Brunson, Captain Clutch, who is historically great under pressure at the ends of games. Karl-Anthony Towns is finally turning into what he promised to be when he went first in the NBA draft, eleven years ago. Once regarded as a weak defender, he all but owned Victor Wembanyama tonight. He’s also a great shooter and passer. Josh Hart couldn’t shoot for shit tonight but had fifteen rebounds.
I could go on about the other players, but that would be beside the point, which is that the Knicks are the best team in the game, and not just a great collection of players.
If Wemby stays healthy for the next decade or more, he will go down as the greatest player of all time. He’s that good—and that tall. He will also come back with a vengeance in the next finals game, and maybe the ones that follow. But that may not be enough. The Knicks are the better team.
As for Knicks fans, what Landry Shamet says above. Also this.
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