After 53 years, the New York Knicks are NBA champions. And the wait sure seemed worth it

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Knowing New York had waited 53 years to see the Knicks hoist the NBA championship trophy, owner James Dolan didn’t even wait to be handed the 30-pound gold-plated prize.

He grabbed it and lifted it skyward with a yell.

Advertisement

“I want to say something to New York,” Dolan shouted. “Hey New York! I’m sorry it took so long! But here we are, and hopefully it won’t take that long again!”

The New York Knicks are champions of the NBA for the first time since 1973, beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games for this title.

Some will say it’s the first “major” professional sports championship for New York in more than 14 years; that would be true when counting only Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL and the NBA, though it would be wrong to ignore the New York Liberty’s run to the 2024 WNBA title and New York City FC winning the MLS Cup in 2021.

But as far as the teams that have been part of the city’s fabric for generations and generations, yes, this 14-year drought is finally over. The New York Giants won the Super Bowl in 2012, capping the 2011 season.

Advertisement

The Yankees — the most decorated team in U.S. major pro sports history — haven’t won a World Series since 2009. The Mets haven’t brought a World Series title to New York since 1986. The Rangers last hoisted that trophy in 1994, the Islanders in 1983. The New York Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1969.

None of that matters, at least not right now. The Knicks — who won 13 consecutive games at one point in this playoff run and rallied from 29 points down to win Game 4 of the finals at MSG — are the toast of the town.

“Of course I’ve never seen anything like it, because it’d never happened before,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said of the Game 4 comeback in an interview on NBA TV on Saturday. “But it’s been amazing.”

The Amazin’ Knicks, indeed.

Advertisement

A third title, finally

It took them 80 years — the Knicks won the first game in NBA history in 1946, three years before what was then the Basketball Association of America started being known as the National Basketball Association — but the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/53-years-york-knicks-nba-040433057.html

Author : TIM REYNOLDS

Publish date : 2026-06-14 04:04:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.