00:00If you grow up playing basketball in New York or New Jersey, you learn early, nothing is given.
00:05Every court is a test. Every game is a competition. Every possession is a chance to prove you belong.
00:12And in the 2026 NBA Finals, five players from the tri-state area have made it to basketball's biggest stage.
00:18Three on the Knicks, two on the Spurs, all with different journeys, but all connected by the same basketball culture.
00:30When people think about the NBA Finals, they think about championships, legacies, and superstars.
00:35But this year's Finals also tells another story.
00:38A story about New York, New Jersey, and five players who grew up dreaming about this moment.
00:44From Brooklyn to Piscataway, from Cherry Hill to Englewood, the tri-state area has left its mark all over this
00:52NBA Finals.
00:52And what makes it even more remarkable is that no two journeys look the same.
00:57Let's start with Jalen Brunson, who grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the former Villanova star and two-time
01:02national champion,
01:03arrived in New York as a free agent in 2022.
01:07At the time, some questioned whether he could be a franchise player.
01:10Well, today, that question has been answered.
01:13Since signing with the Knicks back in 2022, Brunson has become the Knicks captain.
01:17He made second team All-NBA three times and now has led the Bockers back to the Finals for the
01:23first time in 27 years.
01:24Brunson didn't just help the Knicks win, he helped change expectations.
01:29Then there's Carl Anthony Towns, a Piscataway, New Jersey product who returned to the region when the Knicks acquired him
01:34before the start of the 2024-2025 NBA season.
01:39Cat previously starred at St. Joseph's High School in Metutche, New Jersey, before playing one season at Kentucky
01:44and becoming the number one overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.
01:48When he arrived from the Timberwolves, he gave New York something it had been searching for,
01:53a dominant frontcourt presence with the ability to stretch the floor.
01:56And now, with his Dominican roots back in the area, he's playing for a championship in the area that he
02:02once called home.
02:04But the most fascinating story might belong to two players who weren't supposed to be here.
02:09Both grew up in New York City, hailing from the borough of Brooklyn.
02:12Both played in the Catholic High School Athletic Association.
02:15Both went undrafted, out of college, and both had to fight for every opportunity.
02:21Now the kids from the borough of Kings find themselves on opposite sides of the NBA Finals.
02:26This isn't just an NBA story, it's a New York basketball story.
02:30For years, Jose Alvarado and Julian Champagny competed on the same New York basketball circuit.
02:36Alvarado playing for Christ the King in Queens, and Julian Champagny balling for Bishop Lachlan in Brooklyn.
02:42Now, the stakes are a little higher. Two undrafted players from the same borough.
02:47One championship stage. It's a rivalry that has come full circle.
02:51And then there's Dylan Harper, the youngest of the group at just 20 years old,
02:55and perhaps the face of the next generation of great Spurs guards.
02:59The New Jersey native has quickly become a key piece for San Antonio off the bench,
03:03and is producing in his first deep run through the NBA playoffs.
03:07Right now, he represents something important, a clear sign that the next wave of tri-state talent is already arriving.
03:14Over the years, New York City and New Jersey have produced countless NBA players.
03:19But there's something different about seeing five of them share the NBA final stage.
03:24Because their stories are different, their paths are different, their roles are different.
03:29But they all started in the same basketball culture, a culture built on competition, toughness, and belief.
03:37The NBA finals are about champions, but they're also about journeys.
03:41And whether it's Jalen Brunson leading the Knicks,
03:44Conte Towns playing the best two-way basketball of his career,
03:47Jose Alvarado and Julian Champagny bringing their New York rivalry to the biggest stage,
03:51or Dylan Harper representing the next generation, the tri-state area has already won.
03:57From New York City to New Jersey to the NBA finals, five players, five different paths.
04:02But one reminder that some of the best basketball talent in the world
04:06still comes from right here in our own backyard.
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