Нью-Йорк Никс 27 жилийн дараа анх удаа НБА-гийн финалд шалгарлаа

CLEVELAND — If the pressure wasn’t pulsating enough, if the expectations couldn’t be any more blatant, New York Knicks owner James Dolan made it clear — very clear — back in January what had to happen for his franchise to avoid a major overhaul.

“Yeah, we want to get to the finals and we should win the finals,” said Dolan, 70, in a Jan. 5 interview on WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM, his first media appearance in two years. “This is sports, this is business and anything can happen, but getting to the finals, we absolutely got to do. Winning the finals, we should win.”

When Dolan said that, the Knicks were in their worst stretch of the season. They had lost three straight games, and just hours after Dolan’s voice hit the airwaves, his team got pummeled in Detroit by 31 to make it four. It felt like Dolan’s words were going to come back and bite him, as they had often done over the last two decades. It felt like the most anticipated season this century would result in New York being a punchline once again. It felt like the Knicks’ half-century-long title drought was going to be a thing of folklore for generations.

But those were just feelings. The reality is that the Knicks, for the first time in 27 seasons, are going to the NBA Finals after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers. Read that again: The New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals.

“Better get to the finals or we’re going to get traded,” Josh Hart joked when asked about Dolan’s comments. “It wasn’t pressure because that’s the goal we have. It, obviously, hits a little bit different when (Dolan) says it, but that’s the goal each and every one of us have, and we’re our own biggest critics. It just adds more fuel to that internal, inner fire to get there.”

At midcourt in Middle America, the epicenter of basketball fandom ran rampant. Fans who flew from New York were trying to spill onto the floor, where the team and New York’s version of Hollywood luminaries basked in euphoria. Spike Lee. Tracy Morgan. Fat Joe. Ben Stiller. Timothée Chamalet. The A-list went longer. They were hugging, grabbing and thanking players, coaches and executives. In this moment, they weren’t celebrities. They were diehard Knicks fans. They were New Yorkers, and the days of pinning their happiness to Toney Douglas and Ron Baker were an afterthought.

Amid the chaos, Jalen Brunson rose above it like he always does. Once again, the court turned into a stage for one of basketball’s greatest performers, only this time he was getting a standing ovation from the greats who came before him.

New York legends Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Patrick Ewing grabbed the Eastern Conference finals trophy together and handed it to New York’s newest headliner. When that was over, they grabbed the MVP award — with their massive paws fighting for a corner to latch onto — and handed it to Brunson as well.

This was a moment that had been talked about in concept. Brunson had earned a spot in the conversation of all-time Knicks greats by turning this franchise into a winner immediately upon his arrival. His acceptance by those who came before him was known, but this was tangible, for everybody to see.

This was Brunson’s formal invitation to the table.

“It’s been a long time, and he’s carrying on the tradition, passing it down to Jalen,” Frazier said after the Game 4 win. “He’s the guy who has to carry it, but you have to capitalize when you get there. We’re going to stay on him. As Red Holzman would tell us at this point, ‘Hey, Clyde. We haven’t won nothing yet!’”

When the dust settled, sharing a table high above a sea of reporters, looking as triumphant as the situation called for, were teammates — excuse me, brothers — who have won something before and plan on doing it again. Brunson, Hart and Mikal Bridges sat just inches from one another. There were microphones in front of them and a trophy; a familiar scene for this trio.

Together, Bridges, Brunson and Hart were national champions at Villanova. Some won more than others, and they like to remind each other of that, as brothers do.

“I need to correct you: Mikal and I won two,” Brunson interrupted. “Josh won one. Continue.”

Whether by calculation or divine intervention, these three found their way back to each other in professional basketball. The Knicks, in turn, have been approaching the mountaintop ever since. Brunson is the star of Broadway. He’s the closer and makes the difficult look easy. Hart is, well, the heart. He is the one who creates the controlled chaos that only works in New York. Bridges is a chameleon, able to blend in and maneuver within the noise of the Manhattan streets.

There’s something about this combination that works. The proof is in the pudding, as it is in the championships and the victories. There’s nothing fluky about it.

“It’s something that is surreal,” Hart said. “Whenever you’re in college and in that locker room, you know the goal is the NBA. You know the percent chance of you all being on the same team is slim, if not none. It’s something you talk about and dream about, but you know the reality is almost impossible. The fact that it actually came to fruition is super cool because I know the time that these guys put in and I know where their hearts are.

“We already share a bond and brotherhood for life, and this is just another step. Obviously, this isn’t the ultimate goal, but you just keep adding memories. These are memories we’ll have for a lifetime.”

New York got here by doing everything right over the last five years. The Knicks did very little correct in the 20 years before.

The architect of this run of dominance — an 11-game playoff winning streak that has seen the Knicks mangle anyone put in front of them by double digits — is team president Leon Rose, a former CAA agent who crafted this roster by chasing several of his firm’s former clients. As the rest of the basketball world jokingly wondered if New York was running a Mob, where the money stays in the family, Rose saw a roster that would one day compete for the ultimate prize.

It started with Brunson, Rose’s godson, who many saw as a piece and not the whole shebang. Brunson’s arrival immediately sent the Knicks to new heights. Brunson’s obsession with winning allowed Rose to create the product we see today, taking a $113 million discount in 2024 so New York could add the pieces necessary to become a title contender. Players don’t do what Brunson does, especially ones who were selected in the second round and sit around 6 feet tall. Hitching a horse to that wagon was victory No. 1.

From there, Rose gambled by trading a first-round pick to add Hart, who had played on losing teams since entering the NBA. He then acquired the talented but oft-injured OG Anunoby from Toronto in a deal that saw the Knicks move on from intriguing young players R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. From there, Rose nearly used every draft pick at his disposal to acquire Bridges, a good NBA starter who had never made an All-Star appearance — all while Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee was increasingly cloudy with each passing day. The last piece of the puzzle was Karl-Anthony Towns, the former No. 1 pick from New Jersey who had spent his entire NBA career trying to revive the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Each move came with criticisms. In one season, though, the Knicks showed that something was brewing, but time and lack of patience from the powers that be would be their greatest enemy.

To speed up the process, the Knicks’ most daring move under Rose’s watch came this time a year ago, when, after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years, the organization parted ways with Tom Thibodeau, the coach who helped spearhead this revival. New York’s decision-makers believed the players needed a new voice, one willing to collaborate and experiment. The search led them to Mike Brown, a veteran NBA coach who has gone from coaching LeBron James in the NBA Finals, to being fired five games into a season to having a front-row seat as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors dynasty.

Mike Brown, shown with OG Anunoby on Monday night, was thrilled when he got the call to coach the Knicks. “I just thought this team was ready,” he said. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

Brown had one job: get the Knicks further than the Eastern Conference finals. No pressure, right? Apparently not. After facing a 2-1 deficit against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, New York hasn’t lost since. It’s hit every opponent with an assortment of body blows and haymakers. The Knicks are peaking at the right time.

Midway through the 2024-25 season, Brown was fired by the Sacramento Kings after spending two years turning that perpetually laughable organization into a respectable competitor. After that, Brown wondered if he’d ever land another head coaching job in the NBA.

“If an opportunity came up, great. If it didn’t, I felt lucky, blessed and fortunate. I had a good run,” Brown said Monday night. “I felt that at some point I’d get another opportunity, whether it was as a head coach or assistant coach. I just rolled with and didn’t think much about it. Obviously, this opportunity came up and, from afar, I just thought this team was ready. I’m just thrilled to death that Mr. Dolan and Leon Rose gave me an opportunity to be a head coach again, especially here in New York.”

After decades of a cursed aura surrounding the Knicks, this feels like a team of destiny. Forget the results and how the Knicks have been getting them. Every decision leading up to this point felt like the right one. This collection of characters are working with a synergy that can only be manufactured from something spiritual. All of the champions of yesteryear had this energy; they just weren’t in New York, where everything is intensified.

The hardest part is ahead, but the Knicks aren’t done. They didn’t get into this to almost win a championship. Now, they have a chance to be NBA champions once again.

One more time: the Knicks have a chance to be NBA champions once again.