Нью-Йорк Никс 1973 оноос хойших анхны аварга цолоо хүртлээ

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Yes, the NBA regular season is over. Yes, the playoffs are done. We have crowned a new champion. But now things are just getting started. The draft starts in eight days. We have a potential Giannis trade happening soon. We have a wild free agency coming. Let’s prepare for a fun summer.

Knicks euphoria

Big party in the Big Apple

Bing Bong? More like Ring Bong. OK, that wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, and definitely don’t play that video at full volume at work. Not suitable.

The New York Knicks did the impossible on Saturday night when they won their first championship since 1973. The Knicks had some good teams in the 1990s, and it felt like they were knocking on the door the last couple of seasons, but something always got in the way. And they kept tinkering with coaches or rosters. It felt like owner James Dolan was never going to deliver a championship to arguably the biggest franchise in the sport. Not the most successful, but the biggest.

That was proved during the later stages of the Knicks’ NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs. New York fans dominated the postseason the same way their team did. Appeared in Atlanta. Overran Philadelphia. Showed up in Cleveland. I witnessed it firsthand in San Antonio. There was a solid smattering of Knicks fans in Game 1. After New York came back to win that game, downtown San Antonio was overrun with Jalen Brunson jerseys. Knicks fans were about as loud as the Spurs fans in the Frost Bank Center for Game 2. They had flooded the road game.

After OG Anunoby’s miracle putback in Game 4 to complete the biggest comeback ever in a finals game (29 points), the writing was on the wall for the Knicks coming through for the first time since “The Exorcist” was the biggest movie in the country. Their fan base infiltrated an opposing arena like I’ve never seen. I’m not sure anybody has seen something like this.

Before Game 5 in San Antonio, I was standing near one of the tunnels, watching Pacome Dadiet warm up. I overheard a security guard say to some of his coworkers, “10,000-11,000 Knicks fans? The plaza is going to be nuts.” I thought there was no way this could be true, and the pregame hyperbole must have been flowing.

As I walked the concourse, I started feeling like this might be true. Knicks fans were everywhere. As I overlooked the arena from the media section, New York fans were omnipresent. Frost Bank was as loud for the Knicks when they did something as it was for the Spurs. And by the time the Knicks had completed their fourth comeback victory in five finals games, it felt like we were in a junior version of the madness at Madison Square Garden following the Game 4 win.

Social media was as present for the off-court stuff in this series as the on-court stuff. People wanted to see how New York would celebrate. And aside from a small number of people being inappropriate and concerning in drawing attention for fighting or throwing eggs at the Spurs, the Knicks fans delivered in every way. It reminded me of the Cleveland Cavaliers parade in 2016 that was truly special. Except … we haven’t even gotten to the Knicks parade yet. That’s happening on Thursday and will be must-see TV/social media.

Knicks fans displayed one of the purest forms of sports community we’ve ever seen. Dolan, who has long been seen as the reason the franchise couldn’t win a title, apologized for how long it took. And it felt like the fans genuinely forgave him for all the embarrassment over the decades. Because it was all worth it.

Jalen Brunson had one of the greatest closeout games we’ve ever seen, easily securing finals MVP with a 45-point blitzing of the Spurs’ defense. He tied Michael Jordan for the highest-scoring closeout game on the road. The Knicks made Victor Wembanyama remember how inexperienced he is and how the little things you learn through trials and tribulations give you the armor to withstand an onslaught. Remember the veteran presence of De’Aaron Fox on the Spurs? He was a complete disaster for pretty much the entire series.

Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, Landry Shamet and Mitchell Robinson all had big impacts on the series at various times. They’ve been through it, and now Mike Brown is finally a champion as a head coach.

For 53 years, Knicks fans have been waiting for this. It goes well beyond the celebrity sightings throughout the championship run. I’m not sure anybody could possibly enjoy it on the scale we’re seeing and will see during the parade.

The last 24

🏀 Draft bible. The first round of the NBA Draft is next Tuesday. Everything you could possibly need to get ready is here in Sam Vecenie’s annual, massive draft guide.

👑 Return of the King? It’s not quite The Decision 2.0. But LeBron James’ free agency is full of questions, Dan Woike writes.

📈 Power hour. The Knicks obviously top Law Murray’s final power rankings. But what’s next for each team?

🍪 Last laugh. Elmo was under fire for not picking the Knicks to support. Cookie Monster put him in his place.

🙌 Is he the one? Brunson just completed the championship run for New York. He’s the greatest Knick ever now. Marcus Thompson has a great piece on the father-son Brunson combo.

🗽 NYC’s finest? Ian O’Connor truly believes in this Knicks success. He calls them the greatest championship team in New York history.

Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!)and catch out-of-market games onLeague Pass.

Back-to-back?

Can Knicks end the NBA’s parity era?

The Knicks became the NBA’s eighth different champion in the last eight years. Since the Denver Nuggets won in 2023, we’ve wondered if the new champion would break this streak of parity and run things for a while. But the Nuggets, the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder all failed to establish themselves as a new dynasty. The Knicks will be the next one to test that.

Leon Rose, William Wesley and the Knicks’ front office have done an impressive job building the roster. This is how they acquired their rotation of players:

Draft

• Robinson: 36th pick in 2018.
• Miles McBride: 36th pick in 2021 (acquired in a draft night trade).

Free agency

• Brunson: Signed a four-year, $110 million deal in 2022. Re-signed for four years, $156.5 million in 2024.
• Shamet: Signed one-year deals in 2024 and 2025.
• Jordan Clarkson: Signed a one-year, $3.6 million deal in 2025.

Trades

• Hart: Traded for in 2023, with Cam Reddish and a 2023 first-round pick going out in a four-team deal.
• Anunoby: Traded for in 2023, with RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley going to Toronto.
• Towns: Traded for in 2024, with Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first going to Minnesota.
• Bridges: Traded for in 2024, with five firsts and a pick swap going to Brooklyn.
• Jose Alvarado: Traded for in 2025, with Dalen Terry and two seconds going to New Orleans.

That’s some pretty shrewd roster maneuvering! The Knicks will have Robinson, Shamet and Clarkson hitting free agency this summer. Alvarado has a $4.5 million player option for next season and could hit the market too. The Knicks should have their starting lineup under contract for at least next season and maybe longer if Towns picks up the $61 million option in 2027-28. Although I would expect Towns to try to get an extension with the Knicks.

They have some flexibility in the immediate future, but they’re only $3.5 million under the first luxury tax apron. And they have a $16 million cushion before the second apron. That could cost them bringing back Robinson.

The Knicks are just fourth in the championship odds for next season. But that’s not bad. They won’t be the focus to win the title, but they weren’t this year either.

De’Aaron Fox is in line to make big money for the Spurs after a difficult playoff performance. (Christian Peterson / Getty Images)

Are Spurs set?

Fox question looms over promising roster

How big an issue is the Fox situation with the Spurs? He had a miserable finals, needing 70 shot attempts to score 64 points in five games. He shot 34.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep. Aside from one big shot he made toward the end of Game 3, fans and media were baffled at how much Mitch Johnson continued to trust Fox in the big moments.

Looking ahead to this summer, the Spurs have about the best roster construction situation you could hope for with a team that just made the finals. Their books are very clean and flexible.

Wembanyama has one more year on his rookie deal before he gets a supermax extension. Stephon Castle has two more years left on his rookie deal before the big money kicks in. Dylan Harper has three years on his rookie deal until he’s due a big payday. Carter Bryant, who could be a big contributor long-term, is also just completing the first year of his rookie deal.

San Antonio also has Keldon Johnson (one more year at $17.5 million) and Devin Vassell (three more years for a total of $78.6 million) on great contracts. Luke Kornet is on a declining contract for the next three years for a total of $29.7 million. Harrison Barnes will be a free agent. The Spurs are more than $50 million below the first apron. They can be patient or aggressive, or some combination of both.

Let’s get back to Fox. He has an extension kicking in next season. It starts at $49.8 million and then pays $53.7 million, $57.7 million and $61.7 million in the following seasons. No options. Fully guaranteed.

That’s an untradeable contract right now. In a year or two, it might not be that bad. At least in terms of moving it. Two years from now is when the Spurs might need to trade him because of the big money coming up for Castle and eventually Harper.

Also, Harper needs to be the lead guard. His talent is immense, he looked entirely comfortable on the biggest stage and he wants more responsibility building with Castle and Wemby.