Knicks celebrate first NBA title in 53 years on TODAY

The Knicks walked onto TODAY with the Larry O’Brien trophy and a New York sports market still vibrating from a championship that ended 53 years of waiting. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby made the stop on Monday, a day after the franchise returned to the top of the NBA for the first time since 1973 and ended a 14-year drought for a major New York pro title.

The title came with a 4-1 series win over the San Antonio Spurs and a 94-90 Game 5 victory on Saturday at the Frost Bank Center. Brunson delivered 45 points in the clincher and was named NBA Finals MVP, while the Knicks closed a postseason run that included 13 straight wins at one point. The finals also carried a sharp reminder of how long this wait had lasted: New York’s first appearance in the championship round since 1999 came against the same Spurs franchise.

Brunson said the win still “hasn’t settled in yet” and called it “a magical moment.” He said the Knicks prevailed because “it wasn’t just one person, it was everybody” and “we have each other’s back.” Towns said seeing “the fans so excited” and “the city so alive” was remarkable, and added that the team believed it could beat anyone when it stayed unified.

The celebration stretched far beyond the studio. Empire State Building, JPMorgan Chase Building and One Vanderbilt were lit in team colors during Game 5, and tens of thousands of fans flooded Manhattan overnight from Times Square to Harlem and the West Village. Police said more than 60 people were arrested, with ABC News reporting at least 63 arrests. NBC New York reported five school buses were set on fire, a 17-year-old was shot near Times Square, 10 NYPD officers were injured, and there were several stabbings or slashings.

Anunoby, who made the decisive tip-in late in Game 4 after the Knicks rallied from 29 points down, said he had not slept since that moment because the team had to prepare for Game 5. That comeback was so extreme that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he had never seen anything like it. Towns also referenced the orange bag carried by his fiancée, Jordyn Woods, as a postseason superstition, except for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, where a no-bag policy was in place because President Donald Trump attended the game.

The team came home Sunday to a water-cannon salute at Westchester County Airport, then resumed the media circuit Monday with the same message from James Dolan: “I’m sorry it took so long! But here we are, and hopefully it won’t take that long again!” In New York, the title was more than a trophy lift. It was a civic release, a commercial jolt, and a reminder that no basketball brand in the league lands bigger than the Knicks when the city finally gets a championship to celebrate.