For 53 years, the Knicks were New York’s favorite punchline. Then a point guard from Villanova, a handful of old college teammates, and two impossible comebacks changed the history of Madison Square Garden forever.
It’s Draft Night 2015.
The Knicks hold the fourth pick in the draft, and they need a star to pair with Carmelo Anthony. Among those available were Aaron Gordon, a high-flying power forward from Arizona. Doug McDermott, fresh off being named College Basketball’s Player of the Year. Maybe Noah Vonleh, a promising big man who developed well in College.
Instead, they took Kristpas Porzingis, who, according to Bleacher Report, was not in their top 50 prospects. The unknown Latvian quickly became the center of scrutiny, ridicule, and hatred in the Big Apple.
In the minds of Knicks fans, they wasted a top-4 pick on someone the world hadn’t known, while real talent was still available.
Now, fresh off a 17-65 season, the pressure of playing in New York with the most dysfunctional front office in sports, the Knicks are expected to win. They don’t.
Instead, they went 32-50 and didn’t sniff the playoffs in 2016. Porzingis, however, impressed in his rookie year, but it was clear the Knicks were far from ready to compete.
In that same year, without Knicks fans knowing, the foundation for their 2026 championship was being built at Villanova. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges had just won a National Championship over North Carolina.
While Hart left for the NBA, Brunson and Bridges would go on to win another National Championship, this time beating Michigan.
Back in the Garden, the Knicks continued to lose, and badly.
31 wins in 2017.
29 wins in 2018.
17 wins in 2019.
They were unwatchable.
While Porzingis panned out, he was the only draft pick that did.
In 2017, they took Frank Ntilikina in the top 10; he was off the team in three years.
In 2018, they selected Kevin Knox II in the top 10; off the team in four years.
The team was miserable, the fans were miserable, and quite frankly, the NBA was miserable.
Not having their #1 market be competitive hurt the NBA. The bright lights of Madison Square Garden could not shine on a winner.
However, 2019 brought hope. Two of the league’s top players, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, entered free agency. Both were seen as top 15 players in the league, with Durant having an argument as the best in the world.
It turns out Durant and Irving were enticed by the big market of New York. So much so that in the summer of 2019, they both signed to team up in New York. Just on the Brooklyn Nets, not the Knicks.
It had gotten so bad for the Knicks that they weren’t even the preferred choice in their own city.
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Knicks fans were sick of losing. It had been seven years since they saw their team play in the postseason.
In 2021, something changed.
The Knicks, spearheaded by new free agent signee Julius Randle, made the playoffs. The drought was over. Finally, the Knicks had a chance to compete for a championship, until they lost in five games to the Atlanta Hawks.
Although the fans were disappointed, there was clear momentum and traction with the franchise. When 2022 came around, many expected them to continue to trend in the right direction.
Instead, they missed the playoffs.
In that summer, they made another head-scratching front office move by acquiring former Maverick Jalen Brunson. Up until this point, Brunson was seen as a #2 option, never capable of leading a team to a championship.
The Knicks saw something different.
In his first year with the Knicks, Brunson averaged a career high 24 Points Per Game, led the Knicks to a playoff berth, and their first series win in a decade.
In that same season, the Knicks acquired one of Brunson’s old teammates in Josh Hart, making a pair of Villanova alumni in New York
During the summer of 2023, they signed another former Wildcat in Donte DiVincenzo, and the term “Nova Knicks” was born. While not the three best players on the team, it was clear that the chemistry that had been developed years prior was still as prevalent as it was when they were winning college championships.
With DiVincenzo, Brunson, and Hart reunited, Mikal Bridges watched from afar. Bridges was playing in Brooklyn, and many believed it would be cool if the Knicks made a trade, but it never seemed realistic, until it happened.
The Knicks sent a haul of first-round picks to the Nets, and the band was finally back together. Four best friends, four champions, four college teammates, ready to bring winning basketball back to New York. They were ready, until DiVincenzo got traded before the four of them could play a game together.
It was an offer the Knicks couldn’t turn down, as they acquired perennial all-star Karl-Anthony Towns to lock down their hole at Center. It turned out to be a move that would pay dividends.
While all the Villanova magic was happening and the Knicks were winning, they made another move for former NBA Champion and feisty defender OG Anunoby, acquiring him from the Toronto Raptors.
With their core established, many still felt it wasn’t enough to lift the championship trophy.
In 2025, the Knicks made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. Four wins away from being four wins away. After losing in six games, Knicks fans were reminded once again that NY stands for “next year”.
Although the result remained the same, it was clear that momentum was building. From a first round exit, to a second round exit, to a third round exit, the upward trend was there.
The Knicks began the 2026 season as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. After a solid start, the Knicks found themselves matched up against the San Antonio Spurs in the new In-Season Tournament, a game the Knicks would win. The Knicks finally won something, but it was not nearly enough. They didn’t want the In-Season Tournament; they wanted the Finals.
As April approached, the Knicks entered the postseason as the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Many predicted them to breeze through the #6 Hawks with ease. After three games, they trailed 2-1 in the series; it was a movie Knicks fans had seen before.
Instead of another disappointing ending, the Knicks rallied and won the latter three games of the series to win in 6. The machine started to get going.
In round two, they made quick work of the Philadelphia 76ers, winning in a sweep.
7 straight wins.
Back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second successive year.
After trailing by 22 points in the fourth quarter of game one, the Knicks embarked on one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history to take game one.
After the miraculous finish, they had drawn the soul out of their opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After three consecutive wins, the Knicks were heading back to the finals for the first time since the 1990s.
11 straight wins.
Their opponent would be the San Antonio Spurs, the same team they played in their last finals appearance in 1999. In that series, the Knicks had trouble guarding future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, which ultimately led to them losing the series.
27 years later, and an equally difficult task stood at their doorstep: Victor Wembanyama. The 7’5″ Frenchman had quickly taken the NBA by storm. Nobody had seen a man so large move like Wembanyama moved. The Spurs entered the series as the favorites.
The Knicks, however, continued to prove that they were a team of destiny. They took the first pair of games in San Antonio and returned to the Garden leading 2-0.
13 straight wins.
In game 3, the Spurs took the series back into their own hands and snapped the Knicks’ legendary playoff winning streak.
Back in New York for Game 4, and the Spurs dominated. They led by 29 at one point in the third quarter; no team had ever come back from that margin in an NBA Finals game.
The Knicks were destined to make history.
They kept chipping away at the lead.
29 turned to 24.
24 turned to 17.
17 turned to 11.
11 turned to 6.
6 turned to 1.
Within the span of minutes, the Knicks had made it a one-possession game.
Trailing by a point, the Knicks needed a basket to take a 3-1 series lead. They called on their star Jalen Brunson to do the job. After receiving the inbound, Brunson shot over the towering Wembanyama from 35 feet. It came up short and fell right into the hands of OG Anunoby, who tipped it in to give the Knicks the game 4 win.
The greatest comeback in Finals History was complete.
Now, the Knicks went back to San Antonio just a win away from sporting immortality. Like many times in this run, they trailed by double digits. As a matter of fact, they trailed by double digits in all five of their finals games.
Jalen Brunson, with his college teammates by his side, was determined to bring it home in the 2nd half. After a brilliant third and fourth quarter, the Knicks found themselves leading late.
A few rebounds and made free throws later, and the Knicks had done enough to win their first Championship in 53 years.
As Jalen Brunson made his way to the championship stage, it was fresh off the most impressive performance of his career. His 45 points were the most by a player in a Finals-clinching road game. The undersized 2nd-round pick had just become the King of New York City.
For Brunson, Hart and Bridges, they became champions again, this time at the professional level.
New York City is “The City that Never Sleeps,” and if you’ve seen the videos coming out of NYC, you would know that they haven’t slept since the Knicks lifted the Finals Trophy.
All it took was a couple of kids from college with “little to no pro potential,” two of the greatest comebacks in sports history, and patience.
A whole lot of patience.
