Knicks and Spurs look to recapture old glory in rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals that changed their histories

For many reasons, it’s hard to think of many better NBA Finals pairings than the Knicks versus Spurs one we’re about to be treated to.

The Spurs feature a generational talent in Victor Wembanyama, who might already be the best all-around player in the NBA. He’s paired with a roster chock full of exciting, young players like Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and De’Aaron Fox. But then you have a Knicks team that’s riding an 11-game postseason winning streak, which only two other teams have ever done. They have an underdog point guard in Jalen Brunson, but a complementary core of players who have been stars on previous teams, like Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Mikail Bridges.

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On top of that, you have the championship narratives. The Spurs had an over 15-year dynasty that saw them win five NBA titles behind a Hall of Fame corps, with a Hall of Fame coach, who helped popularize an entire style of play people called “The Beautiful Game.” That dynastic run kicked off by beating the New York Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals. It was the first championship in Spurs franchise history and their beginning as a basketball powerhouse.

However, after the 2016-17 NBA season ended, the Spurs never won more than 48 games, had made the playoffs only twice, and came into this season after six straight losing seasons.

Meanwhile, the Knicks came into that 1999 season on the tail-end of a tremendous run of success. Including that season, they had made the playoffs in 12 straight seasons, including advancing to at least the Eastern Conference semi-finals in eight straight years. They had won 50 games or more in six of those seasons and had finished first or second in their division for seven straight years. Yet, they had never won a title.

There was the 1997 team that won 57 games in the regular season but blew a 3-1 series lead to the Heat in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. There was the 1994 loss to the NBA Finals to the Rockets in a seven-game series. There was the 1993 loss to the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals that is famously known as the Charles Smith series. In fact, the Knicks team that made the Finals in…

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Publish date : 2026-06-03 21:31:00

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