00:00The dust is settled. The Knicks are your NBA champions and the parade's all set.
00:05So let's bring in our Knicks beat writer for the post, Steph Bonney, to take a look back at the
00:10season.
00:10I think I can still see some confetti flying around.
00:13Steph, appreciate you hopping on with us.
00:16I thought you'd be on an island in Mykonos or something by now.
00:19But yeah, we still do have the parade coming up.
00:22Let's get straight into this, man.
00:23Can you recap the run and the overall season that brought New York City its first championship in 53 years?
00:34Yeah, I mean, the way the season started and the way it went throughout the regular season,
00:37it would have been tough to predict what happened in the playoffs.
00:39I mean, from the very beginning, there was certainly this rocky, tense relationship between Mike Brown and Karl-Anthony Towns.
00:47Karl-Anthony Towns was having one of the worst seasons of his career at the beginning.
00:50You know, the team stumbled around January.
00:53They were, you know, we were talking about should they trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo?
00:57Should they blow up this team?
00:59And then, you know, sort of midway through the season, they revamped the defense.
01:02They became almost a juggernaut of a defensive team.
01:06But they still didn't look like they were championship ready.
01:09I mean, when you're the third seed and you win 53 games, that's not exactly predicting a championship.
01:15But what happened in the playoffs, man, they just got hot.
01:18They, you know, they were down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks.
01:21They put Cat at the elbow.
01:23They became a connected unit all around.
01:26It was the best basketball that certainly I've ever covered covering the Knicks.
01:30And I've covered, I've said this before, I've covered NBA Finals.
01:34I probably covered like six, seven NBA Finals.
01:36I covered Game 7, 2016, between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
01:41Game 4 at MSG with OG Ananobi's tip-in was the best game that I've ever covered.
01:49It was the most electric atmosphere I've ever covered.
01:51And this run, starting from that Game 4 in Atlanta, against Atlanta, it was just a remarkable run.
02:00And New York City's appropriately celebrating.
02:03Two things you had mentioned there that's going to bring me into the next question was the whole Carl Anthony
02:08Towns, Mike Brown beef at the beginning of the season.
02:12And then that run, starting Game 4 in Atlanta.
02:15We knew Mike Brown was going to be compared to Tom Thibodeau all throughout the season, but especially during the
02:22playoffs.
02:23After those first two losses to the Hawks in the first round, remember when we did some of the post
02:28-game shows, there was some noise and some doubts on if Mike Brown knew what he was doing and if
02:35he could be that guy that can get him over the hump.
02:38So from what you saw throughout the course of the season and the playoffs, how big of a difference did
02:45Mike Brown or the hire have on this team now winning a championship?
02:51Well, in the end, it did have an impact.
02:53And yes, you know, Tom Thibodeau is a great coach.
02:56He, you know, he did a great job rebuilding this franchise.
03:00And maybe, you know, he could have led this team to a championship.
03:03That's a theoretical.
03:04I don't know.
03:04But I will say this.
03:05In talking to people around the team, Mike Brown did bring that collaborative atmosphere to the Knicks for sure.
03:12He made it a family atmosphere.
03:14I wrote it today.
03:15He took the families on trips to Abu Dhabi.
03:19He took them on the trips to Vegas during the NBA Cup.
03:23He took them to San Antonio for a New Year's celebration.
03:26I'm talking about wives and family to be around the players.
03:29And then he took them throughout this playoff run.
03:32I don't think that's something that Tom Thibodeau did or would have done.
03:35And it worked.
03:37I mean, the atmosphere was really a family around this team.
03:40And his idea was the more people you bring into it, the more people feel invested.
03:45And that's really what it felt like at the end, that this Knicks team was all going for one collective
03:50goal, and they reached it.
03:53I want to talk about something that you had mentioned.
03:55I believe it was last week.
03:56You said that Jalen Brunson deserves a statue outside of Madison Square Garden.
04:02Rick Brunson said on, I believe it was first take on ESPN, that Jalen isn't even the greatest Knick of
04:08all time.
04:09He could have been, you know, joking around or whatever, keeping his son humble.
04:12So, should Jalen get a statue?
04:14Why do you think that?
04:16I do believe he should get a statue.
04:18And the reason is that this team, and I wrote this, this team has brought together New York in a
04:24way that I've never seen.
04:26And you can be divided.
04:28Let's just talk about sports first.
04:29I mean, obviously, the city is very divided on politics and policies and everything else.
04:34Everybody has an opinion on what they feel is best.
04:37But let's just talk sports.
04:40You have the Giants and the Jets, right?
04:42Divide the city.
04:43You have the Yankees and the Mets.
04:45It divides the city.
04:46In New York City, you have the Knicks.
04:49That's it.
04:49I mean, you know, you can say the Nets.
04:51We all know the deal.
04:52Everybody in New York, 95% of New Yorkers are rooting for the Knicks.
04:57And what you saw, and my son, he lives in New York City.
05:00He told me it was like it was a community, and it felt like everybody was pushing towards the same
05:05thing.
05:05And I'm talking about you see somebody on the streets.
05:07They're not even wearing Knicks gear.
05:08You're saying, go Knicks, go Knicks.
05:09It became a celebration in the five boroughs.
05:12And the main reason for that happening is Jalen Brunson.
05:15Jalen Brunson, when he came here in 2022, you know, he was just supposed to be some piece, right?
05:21People were saying he was overpaid, $104 million.
05:24He proved himself immediately.
05:25It's a guy that's overcome odds throughout his career, overcame doubters.
05:29Then he takes the discount to stay and build the championship team.
05:34And then he comes in game seven in San Antonio in a series that most people thought they were going
05:39to lose
05:40and puts 45 points down on Victor Wimbanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the closeout game.
05:46To me, that's worthy of a statue.
05:48I think New York City could celebrate this man forever.
05:50I mean, he is on the echelon of players, you know, in New York City that I've never seen.
05:56I mean, listen, Derek Jeter, of course, is in the Bronx.
05:58Yeah, you can't take that away.
06:00But Jalen Brunson is in Manhattan.
06:02He's outside Madison Square Garden.
06:04What would be the shot or the moment where we immortalize Jalen Brunson with that statue?
06:12What would that look like?
06:14So I forgot.
06:14I didn't put it in my column because I forgot.
06:16But, I mean, it's got to be him celebrating.
06:19That would be the statue.
06:20Right there on 7th Ave.
06:22Right there on 7th Ave.
06:24I mean, he hit the shot against the Detroit Pistons.
06:25He had to lay up over Victor Wimanyama and Devin Vassell in the closeout game 5.
06:31But it's got to be his celebration.
06:33Which, by the way, I talked to him about it a couple years ago.
06:35I was like, what's the deal with this celebration?
06:37He was like, it has no real meaning.
06:38It just means three points.
06:39So I wish I could tell you a greater backstory, but that's the one.
06:43Well, I'll tell you what.
06:44If they do put up that statue and the Knicks make another championship-like run,
06:49they're not going to let fans go ahead and celebrate and climb that statue.
06:53That statue is going to have its own security.
06:56Let's talk about James Dolan, man, because you're hearing a lot about, you know,
06:59some of the things that he said to this team, some of the, you know,
07:02him taking a step back at times within, you know,
07:06having his hands and his footprint on this team.
07:09He went viral for the speech that he had to the team before the run.
07:14And I kind of compare it to Al Pacino's speech in any given Sunday.
07:19So here's Dolan, and then we're going to get your reaction.
07:23Right now, this time, or as close as I've ever seen a team be going into the playoffs.
07:31What that would mean to win a championship, to get a ring,
07:37to have your, ultimately, have your numbers up on the rafters, right?
07:43You will forever, ever be a part of New York City.
07:48Thoughts on the speech, Steph?
07:51Yeah, I mean, it was, now listen, it probably wouldn't have seen the light of day
07:55if they lost the championship.
07:56But in retrospect, it is, I mean, it looks and sounds inspiring.
08:02And, you know, give Dolan credit, right?
08:04The decision to fire Tom Thibodeau, as he mentioned in some of that speech,
08:08it was controversial.
08:11And a lot of that hung on him.
08:12He understood that.
08:14And the basic gist of it was, if the Knicks won the championship,
08:19he would look like a genius.
08:20If they were bounced anywhere before the NBA finals,
08:23he was going to catch a lot of heat.
08:25And he's somebody that certainly used to heat.
08:27He made the big gamble.
08:30And he wanted to make sure he came out and gave an inspiring speech there
08:33right before the playoffs.
08:34There was a lot going on, like we said earlier in this interview.
08:37The Knicks didn't look like a championship outfit heading into the playoffs.
08:41You know, a couple things bounced their way in terms of who they played in the playoffs.
08:45But they played like a juggernaut.
08:47And, you know, he made that speech.
08:50So give him credit.
08:52All right, Steph.
08:53I probably won't see you for a bit.
08:56Maybe we crossed paths among the millions of people out at the parade.
09:01Close us out with your final word is bondy for the 2025-2026 NBA season.
09:10I've covered a lot of bad teams covering the New York Knicks.
09:13I saw Phil Jackson beefing with Carmelo Anthony
09:16and try to install a triangle system that nobody wanted to play.
09:20I saw Derek Fisher leave on the second day of training camp
09:25to go see his girlfriend and get punched in the face by Matt Barnes
09:27and miss a practice.
09:28I saw Chris Stapp's Porzingis demand a trade and skip an exit interview
09:33and then get traded for cap space to get Kevin Durant
09:36only to see Kevin Durant go to the Brooklyn Nets.
09:39I've covered Lance Thomas as the captain.
09:42I've covered guys like Andrea Bargnani.
09:46So it was satisfying personally to see a team come together
09:50and do what they did behind a man, a point guard, who to me has, you know,
09:56you can't measure his heart.
09:57I know he doesn't measure well in the combine.
10:01He can't jump.
10:02He's too short.
10:03But he beats everybody in heart, and I saw that throughout this playoff run.
10:07You, sir, deserve a beach and one of those drinks with an umbrella in it, my man.
10:14All right, man, I'm ready.
10:15Appreciate your coverage throughout the course of this season, Steph.
10:19All right, bro.
10:20Thanks for having me.
10:21It's been fun.
10:21Thanks for having me.
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