00:00Jared Chorston, New York Post, here with our Knicks beat writer, Steph Bondi.
00:03Steph, 53 years in the making.
00:05The Knicks are back atop the NBA landscape.
00:08They're back to glory.
00:09This is your 11th year covering the Knicks.
00:11You were around when guys didn't want to come here,
00:13when they were a laughingstock, when they were in the basement.
00:16Just try to put this in context of what this means for this franchise.
00:19Yeah, I mean, I remember David Fisdale coaching this team.
00:21I remember the dysfunction of Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony.
00:25I remember Mindigas Kuzmutsis on this team.
00:28Guys like that, when they were in the gutter.
00:31I mean, it wasn't that long ago, but Leon Rose took over in 2020
00:35and completely changed the complexion of the franchise.
00:38And then Jalen Brunson joined the team two years later, and here we are.
00:42He was spectacular.
00:43And Brunson, 45 points tonight.
00:45How fitting is it that, you know, he didn't have a great series.
00:48I think before today, there was actually some question, like,
00:50if they win this, who's going to be finals MVP?
00:52After today, no doubt.
00:54He had his moment.
00:55You know, he kind of willed the Knicks.
00:56A lot of his teammates, Cat, had two points.
00:59O.J. didn't shoot well.
01:01The bench didn't give him, you know, a big contribution.
01:05It seemed like Brunson really just willed his team.
01:07He saw Larry Abram a trophy right there and then basically reached out and grabbed him.
01:10Yeah, I mean, you nailed it.
01:12That's exactly what happened.
01:13The rest of the team was stuck in the mud.
01:15They couldn't generate anything.
01:16The Spurs were playing great physical defense.
01:20They're athletic.
01:21They were thwarting everything the Knicks were trying to do.
01:23The one weapon that the Knicks had in this game offensively, Jalen Brunson, and he carried them home.
01:28And just, you know, for them, for this franchise, to make the move they did firing Tom Thibodeau last year
01:33after reaching the conference finals, hiring Mike Brown year one, had it be validated with the championship.
01:40Just what does that say about Leon Rose's decision, about the faith they put it in him, and the job
01:45that he did this year?
01:46I mean, their decision was validated.
01:48They can do the victory lap, and they're going to do a victory float around the Canyon of the Harrells.
01:53And really, I was just actually talking to a Knicks employee who really underscored something that we don't think about
01:59with Mike Brown,
02:00how he incorporated a lot of the players' families.
02:03They were able to go on trips to Abu Dhabi.
02:05They were able to go on trips to Vegas for the NBA Cup.
02:08They even did a New Year's trip to San Antonio.
02:11And it really felt like a family atmosphere.
02:13And this person I was talking to talked a lot about how that made everybody feel as one.
02:17They all felt like they were reaching for the collective goal.
02:20They felt like there's a family, and now they got it.
02:22So it's a big moment.
02:24Lastly, you've covered basketball in New York City.
02:27We're not in New York City, so we don't even know the carnage that's probably on the streets.
02:30But you've covered basketball in the Knicks in New York City for a long time.
02:34You know what it means to fans.
02:36What are these next few days going to be?
02:38It's going to be pandemonium.
02:40I mean, I always say, in football, you've got the Giants and the Jets.
02:44In baseball, you've got the Yankees and the Mets.
02:46In New York, it's in the New York Knicks.
02:48That's it.
02:49No disrespect, actually disrespect to the Brooklyn Nets.
02:51But this is what it is, and everybody in the city is going to go nuts.
02:55We're considered the mecca of basketball for a reason.
02:58It's our roots, and we won a freaking championship.
03:01We have so many stories at the New York Post covering today.
03:04We'll have so many stories the next couple days covering this unprecedented championship.
03:10That's Steph Bondi.
03:11I'm Jared Schwartz.
03:12We'll see you at the parade.
03:13We'll see you at the parade.
03:18You
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