00:00The New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals for the first time since 99.
00:04They have a superstar point guard who was named to the All-NBA second team for the third
00:08time this year.
00:09They've got an all-star big man in Carlton Towns, one of the best defensive wings in
00:13basketball in OG Ananobi, and a team that looks built to compete for years.
00:17But none of this happened overnight.
00:19In fact, it took 27 years.
00:35Now, if you're under 30 years old, you may have never seen the Knicks in the NBA Finals.
00:39That's how long it's been.
00:40And what makes the team's historic run through the Eastern Conference during the 2026 NBA Playoffs
00:45so fascinating is that the road to get there wasn't a straight line.
00:50It was a journey filled with a plethora of misses, mistakes, false starts, and ultimately a blueprint
00:56that finally worked.
00:57When the Knicks reached the Finals in 1999, it felt like they'd be back.
01:01After all, it was their second Finals appearance in five years, and they were a perennial championship
01:06contender throughout the 90s.
01:07However, the Knicks fell to the San Antonio Spurs in five games, and that expected quick
01:12return to the Finals didn't come anytime soon.
01:15There was fair reason to believe they could return to the Finals as they had a Hall of Fame
01:19center in Patrick Ewing, a tough defensive identity and a culture that had been built over the
01:24better part of a decade.
01:25But the end came quickly.
01:28After the 1999-2000 season, the Knicks traded Patrick Ewing, the franchise's all-time leader
01:33in points, rebounds, block shots, steals, and games played was gone.
01:38And with him went the last remnants of the Knicks' golden era of the 90s.
01:42The organization spent years lost in the wilderness of NBA purgatory, trying to replace him, years
01:49trying to find their next star, years trying to recapture what it once had.
01:54But instead of contending, the Knicks entered one of the most unstable periods in franchise
01:59history.
01:59Since the last year of the 90s, the Knicks had 15 different head coaching regimes, multiple
02:05front offices, constant change, and very little stability.
02:09Knickerbockers were not looked in any way, shape, or form as a model of consistency throughout
02:14the NBA.
02:15And there was very little hope, if any, among the fanbase in the years that followed their
02:20last Finals appearance.
02:21But it wasn't all that bad. Eventually, there were moments of hope, and none bigger than Carmelo
02:27Anthony's arrival to the Big Apple back in 2011, as he teamed up with Amari Stoudemire, who signed
02:32with the Knicks as a free agent in 2010 after the franchise struck out on the LeBron James sweepstakes.
02:38For a few weeks during the 2011-2012 season, the Knicks were the center of the sports world.
02:43We're talking about the Linsanity era. Undrafted point guard Jeremy Lin showed the
02:48league the opportunity about what he can do. And his performances were electric, completely
02:54unexpected, and it remains one of the most remarkable stories in NBA history.
02:59Lin led the New York Knicks on a thrilling seven-game winning streak, delivering several
03:03spectacular clutch performances. However, despite that insane excitement surrounding the Knicks,
03:08it was short-lived. And it never was the foundation of a contender. However, with Melo
03:14Anamare in the fold for a while, the Bockers were back winning games, and it looked like the Knicks
03:19had their start. Melo had some dope moments in Blue and Orange, and undoubtedly became one of the
03:24best scorers in the history of the franchise. Carmelo Anthony played seven seasons for the New York Knicks
03:30from 2011 to 2017. His defining Knicks accomplishments include winning the 2012-2013 NBA scoring title,
03:37setting the franchise's single-game record in scoring points with 62 points, and being named an All-Star
03:43in every full season that he played for New York. He led the Knicks to 54 wins in the 2012
03:49-2013 season,
03:51and an Atlantic Division title, but the team was bounced by the Indiana Pacers in the second round.
03:56And that was the high of the Melo era, as the team never found a long-term foundation around him.
04:02They even tried to find him a co-star when they traded for former Toronto Raptors' number one
04:06overall pick, Andrea Bargnani. Bargnani played just 61 games over two seasons for the Knicks,
04:12and the trade in which the Knicks gave up a first-round pick is regarded as one of the worst
04:18in franchise history. Ironically, one of the most important moves of the Melo era wouldn't be fully
04:24appreciated until years later. That's when the Knicks traded for Carmelo Anthony in 2011.
04:30They sent multiple players and draft assets to Denver, but one of the picks they eventually
04:35received back through a series of subsequent transactions became the 36th pick in the 2018
04:41NBA draft. And more than a decade after the Melo trade, that asset helped produce the longest-tenured
04:47Knick on the current Finals team. A reminder that sometimes the effects of a franchise-altering trade
04:53aren't felt until years later. If there's one thing that haunted the Knicks for years,
04:58it was the NBA draft. Now, the draft, combined with the draft lottery, is generally supposed
05:05to provide hope for rebuilding teams to work their way back to contention. However, for years following
05:101999, the Knicks either never were able to be bad enough to secure a high lottery pick,
05:15just missed on generational talent, or completely overlooked drafting franchise players. One example
05:22for Knicks fans is the 2017 NBA draft, where the Knicks selected French point guard Frank Nilekina.
05:28With the 8th overall pick, Frankie Ice was consistently cold shooting the ball, struggled on the court,
05:34and never became the player the Knicks hoped he would. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell,
05:38picked 13th, became an all-star. And O.J. Ananobi, selected 23rd by the Raptors,
05:43eventually became an integral piece to Toronto, winning it all in 2019. And the very next year,
05:50the draft wouldn't get any kinder to the Knicks. With the 9th pick, the Knicks selected Kentucky
05:55forward Kevin Knox, and he never developed into the star the Knicks hoped he would become. Meanwhile,
06:00Mikael Bridges emerged as one of the premier two-way wings in basketball. Shane Gilgis-Alexander
06:06developed into an MVP-caliber superstar. Now, had the NBA Finals went with the Knicks in Thunder,
06:12the Knicks could have been looking at Shane Gilgis-Alexander starting, and Mikael Bridges
06:16also starting their own lineup. Two players that they passed on, two players who eventually became
06:21central figures in their journey back to the NBA Finals, but the Knicks were playing his first,
06:26and that wasn't meant to be. But, before the miss of drafting Nilekina as the point guard of the future,
06:32there was Kristaps Porzingis. The Latvian big man was selected by former Knicks president of
06:37basketball operations, Phil Jackson, with the fourth overall pick in 2015. Now, this was a pick
06:43that was not popular by many Knicks fans, but KP was a player who eventually became an all-star
06:48in his third season with New York. A great start for a player who looked like the Knicks' best lottery
06:53pick since Patrick Ewing. But even that story ended with questions. During the middle of the 2018-2019 season,
07:00the Knicks shockingly traded him away to the Dallas Mavericks, and once again found himself starting
07:05over again with two future first-round draft picks. But, this is where the story changes,
07:10as we move forward to March 2nd of 2020, when Leon Rose arrived and was hired as the Knicks president
07:16of basketball operations. The Knicks stopped chasing quick fixes. In 2020, the Knicks were coming off
07:22another losing season, another coaching change, and another rebuild. But then in July of 2020,
07:28they hired head coach Tom Thibodeau. Both Thibs and Rose made clear promises to the fan base.
07:33They didn't promise championships. They didn't promise superstars. They promised accountability,
07:38identity, and defense. And against all expectations during the 2020-21 season,
07:44the Knicks, led by All-NBA forward Julius Randle and the third overall pick in the 2019 draft,
07:49R.J. Barrett, made the playoffs. The season was most remembered from a post-game interview,
07:54where Randle told the crowd, New York, we here. The we here season may not have lasted long in the
07:59playoffs, as the Knicks lost to the Hawks in five games in the first round. But in the moment,
08:04for many in New York, it felt like a true turning point for the franchise. And it was, because it
08:09changed everything. For the first time in years, and following the COVID-19 pandemic, the garden was
08:15buzzing. The Knicks had belief. They had direction. They had a culture. They started building in a
08:21completely different way than we had seen before. They built patiently, intentionally, and with a
08:27clear vision for the future. Once the foundation was established, the Knicks started adding pieces.
08:32And the biggest move of them all came in the summer of 2022. After decades of searching, the Knicks
08:37finally found their point guard and the player who'd eventually become the face of the franchise.
08:42Jalen Brunson, who signed with the Knicks as a free agent. And it was a move that some criticized
08:47and thought that his four-year, $104 million contract was not a good one. However, we will
08:52later find out it actually was one of the best value contracts in the league, as Brunson blossomed
08:57into a franchise-changing superstar. Then came a college teammate of Brunson's, Josh Hart.
09:02Wired at the 2023 trade deadline, he brought toughness, rebounding, and defense. Also a winning edge.
09:08And that quickly made him a fan favorite. At this point, the Knicks, they weren't chasing stars
09:13anymore. They were actually building a team. But Leon Rose wasn't finished wheeling and dealing.
09:19First came O.G. Ananobi, who was acquired for two fan favorites the Knicks had developed after
09:24drafting R.J. Barrett and Emmanuel quickly. The Knicks, they needed an elite defender,
09:29a two-way wing, and a player built for playoff basketball. O.G. became all of that for the Knicks
09:34instantly, as the boxers looked like a different team with number eight in the lineup. But Leon Rose,
09:39he wasn't done cooking. His then came the biggest swing. In June of 2024, the Knicks acquired wing
09:45Mikkel Bridges from the crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets, and the price was massive. But so was the
09:51upside. Another elite two-way wing, another player who fit the culture, another piece of the championship
09:57puzzle. But there was more coming right before the start of the 2024-2025 season. The move that changed
10:03the ceiling of the entire team. The Knicks made the tough decision to trade Julius Randle, a player
10:09who would help save Knicks basketball. But they moved him to Minnesota for former number one overall
10:14pick Carl Anthony Towns, with the hope that he could help elevate Knicks hoops. The message was clear.
10:19The Bockers weren't just trying to make the playoffs anymore. They were trying to win a championship.
10:24Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Carl Anthony Towns, OG Ananobi, Mikkel Bridges. None of these players were
10:30drafted by the Knicks, but each move built on the one before it. And each lesson from the past helped
10:36create the present. The Knicks still had role players on the roster that they had drafted and
10:40developed, including the current longest-tenured Knick and Mitchell Robinson, and sharpshooting guard
10:45Miles Deuce McBride. The balance in the team building was evident, and the organization felt as though the
10:51blueprint for a championship team was in place. For years, the Knicks were the example of how not to
10:56build a contender. Way too impatient. Way too reactive. And sadly, often enough, they were always
11:03starting over. But the thing about the old days is they're the old days. And this team, the 2025-2026
11:09Knicks, they're different. This team was built via smart trades, patient decisions, and a front office
11:15that learned from mistakes of the past. So the road from 1999 to 2026, it wasn't pretty. It included
11:22misses, mistakes, and plenty of check-ins to the Heartbreak Hotel. But after 27 years, the Knicks are
11:28back in the NBA Finals. And for the first time in a long time, the future actually looks just as
11:35bright
11:35as the present.
11:36We're here now. Finals times. Knicks are in the NBA Finals. You know how we do with New York Outgame.
11:41We have the live watch parties going on with myself and Brian Fonseca. And we're bringing it
11:47live and direct to you. We're going to be for the first two games of the NBA Finals, so games
11:51one and
11:52two. We're going to be at Magic Hour Rooftop Lounge and Bar in Manhattan. That's 485 7th Avenue.
11:59Come tap in with us for the first two games. We'll be around other Knicks fans. We're going to be
12:04interacting with our viewers online, taking your comments, taking your questions,
12:09doing our post-game show. It's all going to be at Magic Hour. So it's really going to be fun.
12:14I'm excited for this. We're doing something a little bit different, but it's a way for us to
12:18connect with some of the fans of New York Outgame and the diehard Knicks fans that we know represent
12:22this city in person. So come in, tap in with us. If you can't make it out to Magic Hour,
12:28you still can
12:28tap with us the same way, live online, watching us on the New York Post Sports YouTube channel.
12:33But we'd love to see you all out there at Magic Hour for games one and two. We're going to
12:38have
12:38some good guests. We're going to watch some Knicks basketball. We're going to react. We're going to
12:41analyze. We're going to talk all about it. It's going to be a fun time. We're in the Finals,
12:45so you know we got to do a big here on New York Outgame. Tap in, come join with us
12:50at Magic Hour.
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