On Monday night, the Knicks swept their second straight opponent with a 130-93 obliteration of the Cleveland Cavaliers and advanced to the NBA Finals where they await the winner of the Spurs vs Thunder series.
This is New York’s first time in the Finals since 1999 when, as the no. 8 seed, the Knicks took out the Heat, Hawks and Pacers before wilting to David Robinson, Tim Duncan and the Spurs in five games after losing Patrick Ewing to a ruptured Achilles against the Pacers.
But this year’s team, which many didn’t think would make the Finals, is very different.
Led by superstar Jalen Brunson, the 2025-26 Knicks team have given New York fans so many reasons to believe that this is the year they finally win the title that has evaded the city since 1973.
They have decimated three straight opponents with beats downs of 51 (Hawks), 39 (76ers), 37 (Cavs) and 30 (76ers) and have won 11 straight games while setting a record for the largest point differential in NBA playoffs history.
Statistically and performance wise, this run has been nothing short of incredible, stunning almost every basketball show and analyst across the dial.
Even Shaq clapped it up for the team, coaches, players and fans on Monday night.
But as much as this run is about the product on the NBA hardwood, it’s also just as much about the culture that surrounds it, for New York is a culture that is unique, addictive and cannot duplicated.
And every player on this Knicks team embodies that culture in their own way.
Whether its in their blood, like Brooklyn native Jose Alvarado, or their connection to the city, like Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns, this team is rife with a NYC mindset that’s reflected in how they play and how they think; the team even awarded Timbs, a hardhat and a reflective vest to players who balled out on defense. You can’t get much more New York than that!
That mindset has brought out the creative geniuses through memes, images, videos and apparel.
Brunson’s face has appeared on everything from DMX’s body and scenes from the movie “Belly” to the iconic Biggie “King of New York” image, the “Dipset Anthem” video and almost every classic hip-hop album cover, where he’s joined by Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns.
One company even made them into the gang members from the 1979 cult classic “The Warriors” and the fighters from the legendary Shaw Brothers film, “The Five Deadly Venoms”.
And of course the now legendary Dipset vs. The Lox Versus video is being posted non-stop now that the Knicks are in the Finals.
The artistic interpretations of the team are not only dope, but they represent how much the city loves, respects and identifies with this team, something that doesn’t just happen in New York.
You want respect in this city? You have to earn it, and this team has.
The Knicks have also brought a renewed sense of pride to Knicks fans, especially long suffering fans (like myself) who have had their hearts broken every season over the last few decades.
Former players like Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Larry Johnson, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury and Marcus Camby have joined celebs like Fat Joe, Ben Stiller, Mariska Hargitay and of course, Spike Lee, in celebrating this team’s incredible run as well.
Thanks to Brunson, the Knicks finally have the true leader it’s lacked for decades, and now the one fans chant “MVP, MVP!” for at every game is being discussed as the greatest Knicks of all time- in only four years in New York!
But if Brunson leads the team to a title, he wins that crown and becomes the King of the City.
The 2025-26 Knicks squad is everything that is New York, and that’s why they’re winning both on and off the court.
And with four more wins, both the city and the culture will act out like no one has ever seen before.
Get ready New York. It begins on June 3rd.
