Just as David defeated Goliath, The New York Knicks beat Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the wee hours of 14 June to clinch the NBA Championship for the first time since 1973.
In a best-of-seven series, the 4-1 scoreline would spell domination from the Knicks, but they only outscored their opponents by a total of 12 points across five games. What many are left to wonder, then, is whether this was a New York win, or really a San Antonio loss.
Two distinct teams came into the Finals. The Knicks have built their current team around players that were either traded or signed as free agents, most notably their captain and All-Star Jalen Brunson. By contrast, the Spurs are a young team whose core is made up of top picks in the last couple NBA drafts, led by a Defensive Player of the Year and generational prospect in Victor Wembanyama and 2024 fourth overall pick, Stephon Castle.
The Spurs, which were in the more challenging Western conference playoffs, had battled through a crucial six game series against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards followed up by a seven game series against the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Much of the narrative through the playoffs had surrounded Wembanyama’s rise to stardom since being drafted first in 2023 – standing at seven feet and four inches tall, ‘The Alien’ is widely considered to be the most promising young player since LeBron James, and these Finals were supposed to be his crowning moment.
Enter the New York Knicks. Led by Brunson and fellow All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks silenced doubters through their entire run to the Finals. Despite 4-0 sweeps against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, thrilling comebacks, and an 11-game winning streak, the Knicks were still considered the underdogs due to the weakness of the eastern conference.
Perhaps it’s because their star player wasn’t drafted first overall, but rather 33rd, and has been consistently branded too small, too unathletic, and the like. But Brunson, who signed with the Knicks in 2022, has found himself at the heart of the organisation, in part because of what he has given up for the Knicks to succeed. In 2024, he was projected to be eligible for a huge contract extension reserved for the league’s top players, but took a serious pay cut to accommodate the Knicks’ salary cap flexibility. A $113m pay cut, by the way. But with such flexibility, Towns was signed soon after, and has become indispensable to the Knicks in the last two years.
Which brings us to the Finals, in which hustle undoubtedly prevailed over raw talent. The Spurs led by double digits in every single game, but the Knicks kept fighting, storming to a 2-0 lead in San Antonio. The Spurs took a crucial third game to make it 2-1, but lost Game 4 to an outstanding fingertip basket from OG Anunoby with 1.2 seconds remaining, which has been hailed as one of the best game-winning shots in NBA history. Did I fall asleep only minutes before it happened? Perhaps, but watching every playoff game is not for the faint of heart (or morning people).
As the series progressed, Wembanyama missed a number of key shots which could have changed the trajectory of the series entirely. In fact, it was rookie Dylan Harper (who I’ll admit is a pleasure to watch) leading the Spurs in Game 5. Nonetheless, Harper’s 25 points were nothing compared to Brunson’s 45, a performance worthy of a Finals MVP. In a game which was initially dominated by defensive prowess, the rest of the Knicks only scored a combined 49 points. As the final whistle blew, the Spurs were quick to head down the tunnel, while the Knicks finally achieved a long-awaited dream. Wembanyama will no doubt have his crowning moment soon, perhaps even next year, but it simply wasn’t meant to be.
Regarding his 2024 pay cut, Brunson told ESPN: “100 per cent worth it.”
“Jalen Brunson 2023 (cropped)” by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0.