The Knicks Bring New York a Championship

Congratulations to the New York Knickerbockers, World Champions of basketball.

The Knicks won Game 5 of the NBA Finals, beating the San Antonio Spurs, 94-90 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. Yes, New York City messed with Texas.

The only game in the Finals that they lost was Game 3, when Donald Trump showed up at Madison Square Garden. As they say in New York, I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

The Knicks have, historically, been a snakebit franchise. Along with the Boston Celtics, they are 1 of only 2 original NBA franchises from 1946 still in their original city. They reached the NBA Finals in 1951, 1952 and 1953, but lost them all. They moved from the old Garden, at 49th-50th Streets and 8th-9th Avenues, to the new Garden, at 31st-33rd Streets and 7th-8th Avenues, in 1968. There, they built a new Champion, winning the title in 1970, losing the Finals in 1972, and winning them again in 1973.

But then the dynasty of coach Red Holzman, captain Willis Reed and Walt Frazier got old. The Knicks had a good run in 1984 with Bernard King, but fell short. They had a (sometimes literally) hard-fighting team team in the 1990s, reaching the Finals in 1994 and 1999, but losing. And for most of the 21st Century, they've been mediocre at best.

But team president Leon Rose and general manager Gerrson Rosas have built a new Champion, coached by Mike Brown. Their 53-year drought was almost as long as the 54 years that the supposedly cursed New York Rangers, with whom they share the Garden, had from 1940 to 1994. But they went 53-29 in the regular season, and beat the Atlanta Hawks, then the Philadelphia 76ers in 4 straight, and then the Cleveland Cavaliers in 4 straight to reach the NBA Finals.

In all 5 games of the Finals, they came from behind to take the lead, including Game 3 that they ended up losing, anyway. They won Game 1 in San Antonio, 105-95. They won Game 2, 105-104. They lost Game 3 at home, 115-111. But in Game 4, the trailed by 29 points, and then launched the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history, before OG Anunoby's tip-in gave them a 107-106 victory. Tonight, Jalen Brunson, the captain, scored 45 points, a team Finals record, and they won, 94-90. Brunson was named the Finals MVP.

Hail the Champions:

* Number 00, Jordan Clarkson, 34 years old, a 6-foot-5 guard from Tampa, and the University of Missouri.

* Number 2, Miles McBride, 25, a 6-2 guard from Cincinnati and West Virginia University.

* Number 3, Josh Hart, 31, a 6-5 forward from the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Villanova University.

* Number 4, Pacôme Dadiet, 30, a 6-9 forward born to Ivorian parents in Aubagne, southern France. He did not attend college, either in France or in America.

* Number 5, Jose Alvarado, 28, a 6-feet-even guard from Queens and Georgia Tech.

* Number 8, Ogugua "OG" Anunoby, 28, a 6-foot-7 forward, born to Nigerian parents in London, grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, and went to Indiana University.

* Number 11, Jalen Brunson, 29, a 6-2 guard from the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and then the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire, Illinois, and went to Villanova University.

* Number 13, Tyler Kolek, 25, a 6-2 guard from Cumberland, Rhode Island, and Marquette University.

* Number 20, Jeremy Sochan, 23, a 6-8 forward, born in Guymon, Oklahoma to an African-American father and a Polish mother, grew up in Milton Keynes, England, and played at Baylor University.

* Number 23, Mitchell Robinson, 28, a 7-foot-even center from Chalmette, Louisiana. He did not play in college.

* Number 25, Mikal Bridges, 29, a 6-6 guard from the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern, Pennsylvania and Villanova.

* Number 32, Karl-Anthony Towns, 30, a 7-foot-even center from Piscataway, New Jersey, playing at St. Joseph's High School of nearby Metuchen, and the University of Kentucky.

* Number 44, Landry Shamet, 29, a 6-5 guard from Kansas City, and Wichita State University.

* Number 51, Mohamed Diawara, 21, a 6-9 forward, born to Malian parents in Paris, and grew up there. Like his countryman Dadiet, he did not attend college.

* Number 55, Ariel Hukporti, 24, a 7-feet-even center, born to Togolese parents in Stralsund, in northeastern Germany. He also did not attend college.

The starting 5 are guards Brunson and Bridges, forwards Hart and Anunoby, and center Towns.

I've often said that a Knicks title would mean more to New York than a title for any other team. Not just because New York loves its basketball so much, but because the Knicks have a greater share of the local fandom over the Nets than the Yankees over the Mets, the Giants over the Jets, and the Rangers over the Islanders and the Devils.

And Knick fans have lived through a lot of disappointment, and even some utter crap, the specifics of which don't matter now. Although owner James Dolan did get on the microphone at the presentation of the Larry O'Brien Trophy and apologize to Knick fans for having taken so long.

The Knicks are the World Champions. Fully earned, fully deserved, and worthy of the great story that they have told.