How Long It's Been: The Knicks Won an NBA Championship (UPDATE)

NOTE: This is an update of a piece I wrote on the 40th Anniversary, in 2013.

June 13, 2026: The New York Knickerbockers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 94-90 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and taking the NBA Championship.

This was a moment of great celebration for the New York Tri-State Area. It was the Knicks' 1st World Championship in 53 years:

May 10, 1973: The New York Knickerbockers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-93, at the Forum in Inglewood, California, winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and taking the NBA Championship.

For the Knicks, this capped their greatest period ever: 1970 to 1973, 4 seasons, 3 trips to the Finals (all against the Lakers), 2 titles.

Their only 2 titles -- until this past Saturday night.

Hail the champions:

* William "Red" Holzman, head coach
* Eddie Donovan, general manager
* 6 Tom Riker, center
* 7 Dean "the Dream" Meminger, guard
* 10 Walt "Clyde" Frazier, guard
* 12 Dick Barnett, guard
* 15 Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, guard
* 17 Henry Bibby, guard
* 18 Phil Jackson, forward
* 19 Willis Reed, center, Captain
* 22 Dave "Double D" DeBusschere, forward
* 23 Luther Rackley, center
* 24 Bill Bradley, forward
* 32 Jerry Lucas, forward
* 40 John Gianelli, center
* 43 Harthorne Wingo, forward

Frazier, Barnett, Reed, DeBusschere and Bradley also played for the Knicks on their 1969-70 title. Jackson was in the organization at that time, but missed the entire season due to injury.

Members of the 1970 Knicks who were not also 1973 Knicks were center Nate Bowman (Number 17), forwards Don May (5), Dave Stallworth (9), Bill Hosket (20) and Jazzy Cazzie Russell (33); and guards Mike Riordan (6) and John Warren (16).

Frazier, Barnett, Reed, DeBusschere and Bradley would have their uniform numbers retired by the Knicks. Holzman would be honored with a banner with the number 613 on it, for the number of games he won as Knicks coach. Frazier, Jackson, Reed, DeBusschere, Bradley, Lucas and Holzman would be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Frazier, Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas would be elected to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players -- though it should be noted that Lucas was elected for what he did with the Cincinnati Royals; he was a stabilizing veteran presence for the '73 Knicks. They were also selected for the 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players.

Bibby was the father of later NBA All-Star Mike Bibby. Bradley was elected to 3 terms in the U.S. Senate, representing New Jersey, and ran for President in 2000.

And, yes, kids, that Phil Jackson, the one who would coach the Chicago Bulls to 6 titles and the Lakers to 5. He was a decent player, not a great one. As was Pat Riley, who played for the Lakers against the Knicks in those Finals, and would later coach the Lakers to 4 titles, the Knicks into a Finals, and the Miami Heat to a title.

After one more year, Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas all retired, and the Knicks began to fall apart. Pearl, obtained from the Baltimore Bullets (forerunner of the Washington Wizards) after the Bullets beat the Knicks in the '71 Eastern Conference Finals, was the last to remain, in 1980.

The Knicks would have a mini-revival in the early 1980s with Bernard King, be stellar through most of the 1990s, reaching the Finals in 1994 and 1999, but be stymied, first by Larry Bird's Boston Celtics, then by Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons, then by Michael Jordan's Jackson-coached Bulls. Finally, the Knicks would collapse, because owner Charles Dolan and his son, team operator James Dolan, trusted Isiah to be general manager, and even coach.

Now, the Knicks are back, having won their 1st World Championship since 1973, 53 years. How long has it been?

*

The teams now named the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Miami Heat, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Orlando Magic, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Toronto Raptors, the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans did not yet exist. The teams now named the Brooklyn Nets, the Indiana Pacers, the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs did, in the American Basketball Association.

The Bullets were about to leave Baltimore for Washington, and were a long way from becoming the Wizards. There was an NFL team in Baltimore, but it was the Colts, not the Ravens. There was one in Houston, but it was the Oilers, not the Texans. 

The home of the Knicks and the NHL's Rangers was still being called "the New Madison Square Garden Center." It is now the only arena used by an NBA team then that are still used now -- although the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena), the Cobo Arena in Detroit (now the Huntington Bank Arena), the Milwaukee Arena (a.k.a. The MECCA, now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena), the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium, the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston (now the Fertitta Center), the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, The Forum in Inglewood outside Los Angeles, the Oakland Coliseum Arena and the Portland Memorial Coliseum still stand, and are still being used.

The Islanders had just completed their 1st season, and the building they shared with the New York Nets of the ABA, the Nassau Coliseum, was a year and a half old. The Yankees, recently purchased by George Steinbrenner, and the Giants were terrible, and were still playing in Yankee Stadium, but only for a few more months, as the renovation would start in October. The Mets and the Jets were playing at Shea Stadium, and while the Jets were falling apart as Joe Namath's knees did, the Mets would have a lousy 1st 5 months -- and then a torrid September that would lead to a Pennant and very nearly a 2nd World Championship in 5 years.

The Devils' franchise had been created, but at this point it only existed on paper, as the Kansas City Scouts, to begin play in the fall of 1974. And there was the World Hockey Association's New York Raiders, playing at The Garden, but they were a mess and moved to South Jersey, fooling no one into thinking they were a Philadelphia team.

The biggest thing that would happen in New York Tri-State Area sports in 1973 was the Belmont Stakes, as Secretariat moved "like a tremendous machine" in winning by 31 lengths to clinch the Triple Crown.

1973 was the last season for NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, like Reed, DeBusschere and Lucas, would hang on for one more year. Lew Alcindor had just recently changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Julius "Doctor J" Erving would soon move from the ABA's Virginia Squires to the Nets. Bill Walton was still at UCLA, winning the recent National Championship, the 7th straight for coach John Wooden, in the middle of an 88-game winning streak.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were in junior high school. Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley were in grade school. Shaquille O'Neal was a rather large baby. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and LeBron James weren't born yet.

The same day the Knicks won the title, the Montreal Canadiens won their 18th Stanley Cup, beating the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of the Finals. It was their 6th Cup in the last 9 seasons. The New England Whalers, then based in Boston, had just won the 1st WHA title, the AVCO Cup, beating ex-Blackhawk star Bobby Hull and his Winnipeg Jets. The Indiana Pacers were about to win their 3rd ABA title in the last 5 years, beating the Louisville-based Kentucky Colonels.

The defending World Champions in the other sports were the Oakland Athletics, with future Yankee legends Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter beating the Cincinnati Reds of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan; and the Miami Dolphins, who had won Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins to complete the only perfect NFL season in the playoff era (1932 to the present).

The Heavyweight Champion of the World was the undefeated George Foreman, who had just demolished Joe Frazier to take the title. Muhammad Ali had recently been dealt a loss and a broken jaw by Ken Norton, so it looked like Ali and Frazier were finished, and Foreman would be Champion for a while. Looks were deceiving.

The designated hitter had just debuted, Willie Mays' career was coming to a strange close, Hank Aaron had begun his approach to Babe Ruth's all-time record of 714 home runs, and Nolan Ryan had just pitched his 1st no-hitter and his 1st 19-strikeout game, on his way to a single-season record of 383 strikeouts.

Current Knicks coach Mike Brown was 3 years old. Giants coach John Harbaugh was 10. Rangers coach Mike Sullivan was 5. Islanders coach Peter DeBoer was about to turn 5. Jet coach Aaron Glenn was 10 months old. Yankee manager Aaron Boone was 2 months old. Nets coach Jordi Fernández, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and Devils coach Sheldon Keefe weren't born yet.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America 4 times, Canada 3 times, twice each in Russia, Korea, Japan, China, France and Italy; and once each in Austria, Bosnia, Spain, Norway, Australia, Greece, Britain and Brazil. The World Cup has since been held in America, Mexico and Germany twice; and once each in Canada, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Title IX had recently become law, and abortion had just been nationally legalized. The feminist and gay rights movements were underway.

The President of the United States was Richard Nixon, but the Senate was about to convene a special committee to investigate what was then being called "the Watergate matter." Nixon was now the only living President, as Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson had both died within the last 5 months. Their widows, and  those of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, were still alive.

Spiro Agnew as Vice President, but, in probably the most amazing thing about Watergate, Nixon's Vice President would have to resign his office, and it would have absolutely nothing to do with Watergate.

Gerald Ford was House Minority Leader. Jimmy Carter was Governor of Georgia. Ronald Reagan was Governor of California. George H.W. Bush was out of elective office, but had recently been appointed Chairman of the Republican National Committee, replacing a young Senator named Bob Dole. Bush's son had just been discharged from the Texas Air National Guard -- whether he had shown up for duty in the preceding year remains a mystery. Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham had just moved in together, renting a house in New Haven, Connecticut, where they were both students at Yale Law School.

Barack Obama was in junior high school in the city where he was born, Honolulu, Hawaii. Joe Biden was in his 1st year as a U.S. Senator. And Donald Trump and his father were about to be sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for racist renting practices. Melania Knauvss was 3 years old.

The Governor of New York was Nelson Rockefeller, although he would soon resign to run something called the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans. (It couldn't have been that critical, because until I first wrote this piece, in 2013, I'd never heard of it.) Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson would assume the job.

The Mayor of New York was John Lindsay, whose 2nd term was limping to a pathetic close. Abe Beame, who had been City Comptroller when Lindsay beat him for the Mayoralty in 1965, held the job again and was running again, and would defeat John Marchi, a State Senator from Staten Island whose upset victory in the 1969 Republican Primary forced Lindsay to run for re-election as an independent -- and win. But Beame's Mayoralty would be even more troubled than Lindsay's, and pave the way for that of Ed Koch.

Another weird race was across the Hudson River in New Jersey. Governor William T. Cahill had proposed the State's 1st income tax. Not signed into law, merely proposed it. Charlie Sandman, a very conservative loudmouth who represented the southernmost portion of the State in Congress, ran against Cahill in the Republican Primary, and won. But he got slaughtered in the general election by Essex County Prosecutor Brendan Byrne, when it was revealed that a local mob boss was caught on tape saying Byrne was the one politician in the area who couldn't be bought. Byrne won 66 percent of the vote.

Then, the next year, he got the State income tax passed, and dropped to an approval rating of 17 percent. People began calling him "One-Term Byrne." Unlike Jim Florio nearly 20 years later, he shook off the stupid tax protests, and got re-elected in 1977 with 56 percent of the vote.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Pierre Trudeau. The monarch of Great Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that has now changed -- and the Prime Minister was Edward Heath, who, like Senator Edward Kennedy and the Queen's great-grandfather, King Edward VII, was nicknamed "Ted."

No Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1972, so its holder was still the 1971 recipient, Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany. The Pope was Paul VI. Pope Leo XIV, then Robert Francis Prevost, was 17 years old, and was about to graduate from St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, Michigan. It closed in 1977. There have since been 10 Presidents of the United States (11 if you count Trump twice -- I wouldn't even count him once), 13 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 6 Popes.

England's Football League was won by Liverpool in a close race over London's Arsenal. The FA Cup was won by second-division North-East club Sunderland in a shock over Yorkshire's mighty Leeds United. The European Cup, for the 3rd season in a row, was won by Johan Cruyff's powerful but beautiful Amsterdam club Ajax. Soon, Cruyff would move on to Spain's FC Barcelona, and build that club's system, and thus build significantly on the legend it already had.

The New York Cosmos -- not yet with Pele and Franz Beckenbauer -- were playing at Hofstra University's football stadium, now named James M. Shuart Stadium, across from the Jets' training complex and the Nassau Coliseum, and were dethroned as North American Soccer League Champions by the Philadelphia Atoms. Hardly anybody in North America cared.

Major novels of 1973 included Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Demon Seed by Dean Koontz (which would be made into a 1977 film in which Julie Christie plays a woman who gets impregnated by a computer), Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, and Postern of Fate, the last novel written by Agatha Christie.

Robert Ludlum published The Matlock Caper, but it wasn't about a lawyer in Atlanta who looked like Andy Griffith -- or one in New York who looks like Kathy Bates. In non-fiction, Hunter S. Thompson published Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Peter Maas Serpico (the film verison with Al Pacino as the real-life New York cop would premiere in December), and Flora Rheta Schreiber Sybil.

J.R.R. Tolkien would live another 4 months. George R.R. Martin was teaching at Clarke University in Iowa. Stephen King was teaching at a high school in Maine, and his 1st novel, Carrie, had been accepted for publication the next year. J.K. Rowling was 7 years old.

No one had yet heard of George Smiley, the Punisher, Lestat de Lioncourt, Rocky Balboa, T.S. Garp, Arthur Dent, Jason Bourne, Hannibal Lecter, Celie Harris, Kinsey Millhone, Jack Ryan, Forrest Gump, John McClane, Alex Cross, Bridget Jones, Robert Langdon, Bella Swan, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Lisbeth Salander, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, John Wick or Maggie Bell.

Major movies released in the spring of 1973 included the film version of Godspell, an updated version of Raymond Chandler's story The Long Goodbye with Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe and ex-Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton as the killer, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid with James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the title roles and Bob Dylan with a cameo, the Anthony Hopkins & Claire Bloom version of Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, the blaxploitation/feminist films Cleopatra Jones and Coffy, and, released the day before the Knicks won the title, Paper Moon, with real-life father and daugther Ryan and Tatum O'Neal as Depression-era con artists. (Ryan died in 2023. I wonder if he ever paid Tatum the $200.)

Gene Roddenberry had just seen his project Genesis II flop on CBS. George Lucas was about to release American Graffiti. Steven Spielberg was working on his 1st feature film, The Sugarland Express. The cartoon Super Friends was about to premiere, meaning that George Reeves would be succeeded as Superman (sort of) by Danny Dark, and Adam West as Batman by Olan Soule. Shannon Farnon became the voice of Wonder Woman. Roger Moore was about to debut as James Bond in Live and Let Die. Jon Pertwee was playing The Doctor.

Bonanza finally went off the air, while Gunsmoke hung on a little longer. Johnny Carson had recently moved The Tonight Show from New York to Los Angeles. M*A*S*H wrapped up its 1st season, All in the Family its 3rd. CBS had recently revived The Price Is Right, and was about to revive Match Game, which had aired on NBC from 1962 to 1969. Paul McCartney's 1st solo TV special had recently aired on ABC, to coincide with his Wings album Red Rose Speedway.

Paul's fellow ex-Beatle George Harrison released Living in the Material World. Bob Dylan was about to release "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Elvis Presley had released the soundtrack to his recent TV special Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. Frank Sinatra was about to start recording his comeback album, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. The Jackson 5 had released Skywriter.

Led Zeppelin were on tour in the U.S., including the Garden concert that would be filmed for The Song Remains the Same. David Bowie released Aladdin Sane, Bob Marley Catch a Fire, the Eagles Desperado, Paul Simon There Goes Rhymin' Simon, the Carpenters Now & Then, Earth Wind & Fire Head to the Sky, Chicago Chicago VI, Aretha Franklin Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), Carole King Fantasy, and John Denver Farewell Andromeda. The Number 1 song in America was "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando & Dawn.

Robert Kardashian had just co-founded Radio & Records magazine, stepping aside from his legal practice. Bruce Jenner was training to better his 1972 Olympic performance in the decathlon -- 10th place. Kris Houghton was in high school. None of them had ever heard of each other.

Inflation was about to have its 1st big increase of the post-World War II era: What $1.00 bought then, $7.63 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 8 cents, and a Subway ride in New York 35 cents. The average price of a gallon of gas was 37 cents (but was about to soar thanks to the OPEC price hike), a cup of coffee 51 cents, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $1.47, a movie ticket $1.72, a new car $2,900, and a new house $35,100. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 939.34.

The portable telephone had just been introduced by Motorola. Cordless home phones and the desktop computer were still a ways off. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Tim Berners-Lee were turning 18. Social media was the stuff of science fiction.

Skylab was launched, and became the biggest lemon in the history of space travel -- so far. Automatic teller machines were still a relatively new thing, and many people had never seen one. The very first home video game system, the Magnavox Odyssey, had been introduced the preceding September. There were heart transplants, liver transplants and lung transplants, and artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra.

In the Spring of 1973, the World Trade Center opened in New York, becoming the tallest building(s) in the world -- only to be topped just a month later by the Sears Tower in New York. The American Indian Movement ended their 10-week standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. LexisNexis and Federal Express (FedEx) began operations. A military coup ended democracy in Greece. Mark Felt retired from the FBI -- and, at this point, only he, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, and Post editor Ben Bradlee knew he was Woodward's Watergate source, nicknamed "Deep Throat."

Noel Coward, and Pablo Picasso, and Jeannette Rankin died. She was the 1st woman elected to Congress, the Montana Representative who voted against America's entry into World War I, and then became the only member of either house of Congress to vote against America's entry into World War II. She lost her seat because of both votes, but was only able to come back the first time. Also dying in the Spring of 1973 were Robert Armstrong and Merian C. Cooper, the male lead and the director of King Kong.

Sasha Alexander, and Heidi Klum, and Neil Patrick Harris were born. So were sports stars Derek Lowe, Tedy Bruschi, Roberto Carlos and Haile Gebreselassie.

May 10, 1973. The New York Knicks were World Champions. It took them 53 years, 1 month and 3 days to do it again.

And now, they have overcome.

NBA Championships, 1947-2026

Ties broken by Finals appearances, then by Conference Finals appearances:

1. Boston Celtics, 18: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008, 2024

2. Los Angeles Lakers, 17: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954 (each of the preceding as Minneapolis Lakers), 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2020; also won NBL Championship, 1948

3. Golden State Warriors, 7: 1947, 1956 (both as Philadelphia Warriors), 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022

4. San Antonio Spurs, 6: 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2014; lost 2 Finals, 2013, 2026

5. Chicago Bulls, 6: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998; no Finals losses

6. New York Knicks, 3: 1970, 1973, 2026; lost 6 Finals: 1951, 1952, 1953, 1972, 1994, 1999

7. Philadelphia 76ers, 3: 1955 (as Syracuse Nationals), 1967, 1983; lost 5 Finals: 1954, 1977, 1980, 1982, 2001

8. Detroit Pistons, 3: 1989, 1990, 2004; lost 4 Finals: 1955, 1956 (both as Fort Wayne Pistons), 1988, 2005

9. Miami Heat, 3: 2006, 2012, 2013; lost 3 Finals: 2011, 2020, 2023

10. Oklahoma City Thunder, 2: 1979 (as Seattle SuperSonics), 2025; lost 3 Finals: 1978, 1996 (as Sonics), 2012 

11. Houston Rockets, 2: 1994, 1995; lost 2 Finals: 1981, 1986

12. Sacramento Kings, 1: 1951 as Rochester Royals; won NBL Championship, 1946; lost no NBA Finals

13. Milwaukee Bucks, 2: 1971, 2021; lost 1 Finals: 1974

14. Cleveland Cavaliers, 1: 2016; lost 4 Finals: 2007, 2015, 2017, 2018; lost 4 Conference Finals: 1976, 1992, 2009, 2026

15. Atlanta Hawks, 1: 1958 as St. Louis Hawks; lost 3 Finals: 1957, 1960, 1961 (as St. Louis Hawks); lost 10 Conference Finals: 1956, 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967 (each of those as St. Louis Hawks), 1969, 1970, 2015, 2021

16. Washington Wizards, 1: 1978 as Washington Bullets; lost 3 Finals: 1971 (as Baltimore Bullets), 1975, 1979 (both as Washington Bullets); lost 1 Conference Finals: 1965 (as Baltimore Bullets)

17. Portland Trail Blazers, 1: 1977; lost 2 Finals: 1990, 1992; lost 4, Conference Finals: 1991, 1999, 2000, 2019 

18. Dallas Mavericks, 1: 2011; lost 2 Finals: 2006, 2024; lost 3 Conference Finals: 1988, 2003, 2022

19. Denver Nuggets, 1: 2023; lost no NBA Finals; lost 1 ABA Finals: 1976; lost 4 Conference Finals: 1978, 1985, 2009, 2020

20. Toronto Raptors, 1: 2019; lost no Finals; lost 1 Conference Finals: 2016

21. Indiana Pacers, won 2 ABA Championships: 1970, 1972, 1973; 0-2 in NBA Finals

22. Brooklyn Nets, won ABA Championship: 1974 and 1976 as New York Nets; 0-2 in NBA Finals as New Jersey Nets

23. Phoenix Suns, 0-3 in NBA Finals: 1976, 1993, 2021

24. Orlando Magic, 0-2 in NBA Finals: 1995, 2009

25. Utah Jazz, 0-2 in NBA Finals: 1997, 1998

26. Minnesota Timberwolves, 0-3 in Conference Finals: 2004, 2024, 2025

27. Los Angeles Clippers, 0-1 in Conference Finals, 2021

28. Memphis Grizzlies, 0-1 in Conference Finals: 2013

29. Charlotte Hornets, 0-4 in Conference Semifinals: 1993, 1998, 2001, 2002

30. New Orleans Pelicans, 0-2 in Conference Semifinals: 2008, 2018

NBA Championship Droughts, as of the 2026 Finals

Teams ranked by their most recent title; then, for teams that have not won the title, fewest seasons without one:

1. Current Champions, New York Knicks, 2026

2. 1 year, Oklahoma City Thunder, 2025

3. 2 years, Boston Celtics, 2024

4. 3 years, Denver Nuggets, 2023

5. 4 years, Golden State Warriors, 2022

6. 5 years, Milwaukee Bucks, 2021

7. 6 years, Los Angeles Lakers, 2020

8. 7 years, Toronto Raptors, 2019

9. 10 years, Cleveland Cavaliers, 2016

10. 12 years, San Antonio Spurs, 2014

11. 13 years, Miami Heat, 2013

12. 15 years, Dallas Mavericks, 2011

13. 24 years, Detroit Pistons, 2004

14. 28 years, Chicago Bulls, 1998

15. 31 years, Houston Rockets, 1995

16. 43 years, Philadelphia 76ers, 1983

17. 48 years, Washington Wizards, 1978 as Washington Bullets

18. 49 years, Portland Trail Blazers, 1977

19. 68 years, Atlanta Hawks, 1958 as St. Louis Hawks

20. 75 years, Sacramento Kings, 1951 as Rochester Royals

21. Never in 24 years, New Orleans Pelicans, joined NBA in 2002 as New Orleans Hornets

22. Never in 31 years, Memphis Grizzlies, joined NBA in 1995 as Vancouver Grizzlies

23. Never in 37 years, Orlando Magic, joined NBA in 1989

24. Never in 37 years, Minnesota Timberwolves, joined NBA in 1989

25. Never in 38 years, Charlotte Hornets, joined NBA in 1988

26. Never in 47 years, Utah Jazz, joined NBA in 1974 as New Orleans Jazz

27. Never in 50 years, Indiana Pacers, joined NBA in 1976

28. Never in 50 years, Brooklyn Nets, founded in ABA in 1967 as New Jersey Americans, joined NBA in 1976 as New York Nets

29. Never in 56 years, Los Angeles Clippers, joined NBA in 1970 as Buffalo Braves

30. Never in 58 years, Phoenix Suns, joined NBA in 1968

The Charlotte Hornets were an expansion franchise in 1988. In 2002, they moved to New Orleans, keeping the Hornets name. In 2004, the NBA admitted an expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2013, the New Orleans team gave up the Hornets name, becoming the New Orleans Pelicans. This allowed the Charlotte team to take on the Charlotte Hornets name in 2014.

If I were ranking the teams that have not yet won titles by how close they have come:

21. Indiana Pacers, last won ABA Championship in 1973, last reached NBA Finals in 2025

22. Phoenix Suns, last reached Finals in 2021

23. Brooklyn Nets, last won ABA Championship in 1976 as New York Nets, last reached NBA Finals in 2003 as New Jersey Nets

24. Orlando Magic, last reached Finals in 2009

25. Utah Jazz, last reached Finals in 1998

26. Minnesota Timberwolves, best finish is in Conference Finals, last reached in 2025

27. Los Angeles Clippers, best finish is in Conference Finals, last reached in 2021

28. New Orleans Pelicans, best finish is in Conference Semifinals, last reached in 2018

29. Memphis Grizzlies, best finish is in Conference Finals in 2013

30. Charlotte Hornets, best finish is in Conference Semifinals, last reached in 2002

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. The clock ran out at 11:28 PM on June 13, 2026. 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.

May 13, 1976: The Last ABA Game

David Thompson (left) and Julius Erving

May 13, 1976, 50 years ago: The New York Nets beat the Denver Nuggets, 121-106 at the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Hempstead, New York, and win the American Basketball Association Championship in 6 games.

(The Nassau Coliseum is in the Town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on Long Island, but its mailing address is Uniondale, NY.)

For the Nets, coached by Kevin Loughery; Julius Erving, known as Dr. J, scored 31 points, John Williamson 28, Brian Taylor 24, Jim Eakins 15, Bill Melchionni and Tim Bassett each scored 4, Al Skinner 3, Rich Jones 2, and Ted McClain 1.

For the Nuggets, coached by Larry Brown (with some irony, a Nassau County native): David Thompson, known as "Skywalker" before there was a Star Wars, led all scorers with 42 points, Dan Issel 30, Chuck Williams 14, Monte Towe 6, Ralph Simpson and Bobby Jones 4 each; and Byron Beck, Marvin Webster and Gus Gerard 2 each.

This turns out to be the last game in ABA history. It is also the last game that Erving plays for the Nets.

Before the 1975-76 season began, the Memphis Sounds, who had been the Memphis Tams (1972-74), the Memphis Pros (1970-72), and the New Orleans Buccaneers (1967-70), moved again, becoming the Baltimore Claws, but only played 3 exhibition games before being folded by the league for nonpayment of fees. The San Diego Conquistadors became the San Diego Sails, but folded 11 games into the season; the Utah Stars, only 2 seasons removed from a Finals berth and the 1971 ABA Champions, folded 16 games in.

So only 7 teams completed the season: The Nets, the Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, the Kentucky Colonels, the Spirits of St. Louis and the Virginia Squires. The ABA required the remaining teams to each put up $75,000 before merger talks with the NBA, and the Squires didn't, folding, and ending what remains Virginia's last sports team with major league pretensions. (The Washington Commanders have their offices and training camp in Virginia, but, as of the 2022 season, their stadium is in Maryland.)

Despite being 1 of only 2 teams, the Pacers being the other, to play every ABA season under the same name and in the same metro area, and being only 1 season removed from an ABA Championship, the Colonels folded. Team owner John Y. Brown Jr., who bought Kentucky Fried Chicken from "Colonel" Harland Sanders and made it a nationwide brand, took a $3.3 million payoff from the NBA.

Brown took the money he received for the Colonels and used part of it to purchase the NBA's Buffalo Braves, which he later parlayed into ownership of the Boston Celtics. In 1979, he was elected Governor of Kentucky. To this day, no major league team in any sport has called Kentucky home, unless you count Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

The Spirits' demise was a bit more interesting. The team known from 1967 to 1969 as the Houston Mavericks, and from then until 1974 as the Carolina Cougars, were owned by brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silva, textile magnates, who had previously tried to buy the NBA's Detroit Pistons. They had planned to move the Spirits to Salt Lake City if the NBA would accept them. It didn't, thinking both St. Louis and Salt Lake City too small as markets. However, in 1979, the NBA did not stop the New Orleans Jazz from moving to Salt Lake City.

In June 1976, the ABA owners agreed, in return for the Spirits of St. Louis ceasing operations, to pay the Silnas $2.2 million in cash up front, in addition to a 1/7th share of the 4 remaining teams' television revenues in perpetuity. As the NBA's popularity exploded in 1980s and 1990s, the league's television rights were sold to CBS, and then NBC, and additional deals were struck with the cable networks TBS and TNT, league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

From 1976 to 2012, the Silnas collected approximately $255 million from the NBA, despite the fact that the Spirits never played an NBA game. (Nor has the NBA placed a new team in St. Louis since the Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968.) In 2014, the Silnas reached agreement with the NBA to greatly reduce the perpetual payments, and take a lump sum of $500 million. Ozzie died in 2016, at the age of 83. As of May 13, 2022, Dan is still alive, 77 years old, and still receiving money from the NBA, even though he hasn't owned a pro basketball team in 46 years.

When the 1976-77 season begins, the Nets, the Nuggets, the Pacers and the Spurs were in the NBA. But, as a result of having to pay an entry fee and a territorial indemnification fee to the Knicks, the Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets went from the best team in their old league to the worst in their new one, while Dr. J helped the Sixers reach 4 NBA Finals, including in that 1st season, winning the title in 1983.

The Nets changed their name to the New Jersey Nets in 1977, moved to the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, then to the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford in 1981, then to the Prudential Center in Newark in 2010, and finally to the Barclays Center in 2012, becoming the Brooklyn Nets. They reached the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, but, for the most part, due to poor drafts, poor trades, and internal dissension that occasionally breaks them up, they have been an NBA failure.

However, it should also be noted that the 1976 ABA title was the last league championship won by a basketball team in the New York Tri-State Area until the New York Liberty won the WNBA Championship in 2024. The Knicks won the NBA in 1970 and 1973, the Nets won the ABA in 1974 and 1976. Since then, between them, they are 0-4 in NBA Finals, winning just 6 Finals games in 40 years. The Nuggets didn't even reach the NBA Finals until 2023, finally winning it.

The NBA never adopted the ABA's red-white-and-blue ball, keeping their traditional orange. But in 1979, they adopted the 3-point field goal, which the ABA had, as had the American Basketball League of 1961-62.

New York vs. Philadelphia In the Postseason

The New York Knicks won their 1st Round Playoff series, beating the Atlanta Hawks in 6 games, winning Game 6 by a Playoff-record-setting margin.

The Philadelphia 76ers won theirs, beating their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, in a Game 7 in Boston. Truly an epic achievement.

The Knicks and Sixers will now play each other in the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals. They haven't been to the NBA Finals since 1999 and 2001, respectively. They haven't won an NBA Championship since 1973 (Knicks) and 1983 (76ers).

New York vs. Philadelphia In the Postseason

1905 World Series: New York Giants beat Philadelphia Athletics

1911 World Series: Athletics beat Giants

1913 World Series: Athletics beat Giants

1947 BAA Semifinals: Philadelphia Warriors beat New York Knicks

1950 World Series: New York Yankees beat Philadelphia Phillies

1968 NBA Eastern Division Semifinals: Philadelphia 76ers beat Knicks

1974 Stanley Cup Semifinals: Philadelphia Flyers beat New York Rangers

1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals: Flyers beat New York Islanders

1977 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals: 76ers beat Knicks

1979 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals: Rangers beat Flyers

1979 NBA Eastern Conference 1st Round: 76ers beat New Jersey Nets

1980 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals: Flyers beat Rangers

1980 Stanley Cup Finals: Islanders beat Flyers

1981 NFC Wild Card Playoff: Philadelphia Eagles beat New York Giants

1982 NHL Patrick Division Semifinals: Rangers beat Flyers

1983 NHL Patrick Division Semifinals: Rangers beat Flyers

1983 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals: 76ers beat Knicks

1984 NBA Eastern Conference 1st Round: Nets beat 76ers

1985 NHL Patrick Division Semifinals: Flyers beat Rangers

1985 NHL Patrick Division Finals: Flyers beat Islanders

1986 NHL Patrick Division Semifinals: Rangers beat Flyers

1987 NHL Patrick Division Semifinals: Flyers beat Rangers

1987 NHL Patrick Division Finals: Flyers beat Islanders

1989 NBA Eastern Conference 1st Round: Knicks beat 76ers

1995 NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals: Flyers beat Rangers

1995 NHL Eastern Conference Finals: New Jersey Devils beat Flyers

1997 NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals: Flyers beat Rangers

2000 NHL Eastern Conference Finals: Devils beat Flyers

2000 NFC Divisional Playoff: Giants beat Eagles

2004 NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Flyers beat Devils

2006 NFC Wild Card Playoff: Eagles beat Giants

2008 NFC Divisional Playoff: Eagles beat Giants

2009 World Series: Yankees beat Phillies

2010 NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Flyers beat Devils

2012 NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals: Devils beat Flyers

2014 NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Rangers beat Flyers

2018 MLS Cup Knockout Round: New York City FC beat Philadelphia Union

2019 NBA Eastern Conference 1st Round: 76ers beat Nets

2019 MLS Cup 1st Round: Union beat New York Red Bulls

2020 Stanley Cup 2nd Round: Islanders beat Flyers

2021 MLS Cup 1st Round: Union beat Red Bulls

2021 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Finals: City beat Union

2022 NFC Divisional Playoff: Eagles beat Giants

2022 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Finals: Union beat City

2023 NBA Eastern Conference 1st Round: 76ers beat Nets

2024 NBA Eastern Conference 1st Round: Knicks beat 76ers

2024 National League Championship Series: New York Mets beat Phillies

2025 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals: City beat Union

Note: For soccer, I counted only Major League Soccer. I would have counted the North American Soccer League, but the New York Cosmos and the Philadelphia Atoms never played each other in the Playoffs. Nor did the Cosmos and the later Philadelphia Fury. I did not count the U.S. Open Cup, because that's an in-season tournament, not postseason.

MLB: New York, 4-2

NFL: Philadelphia, 4-1

NBA: Philadelphia, 7-3

NHL: Philadelphia, 11-10

MLS: Tie, 3-3

TOTAL: Philadelphia 27-21.

Deserve's Got Everything to Do With It: 2026 Basketball Edition

Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman): "I don't deserve this! To die like this!"

Will Munny (Clint Eastwood): "Deserve's got nothing to do with it!"

-- Unforgiven, 1992, directed by Eastwood

As I occasionally (but not annually) do, I am ranking Playoff teams by how much they, and their fanbases, deserve to win a World Championship. This time, the NBA:

20. Oklahoma City Thunder, West 1st seed.

May Deserve Because: They've proven themselves to be worthy champions. And their fans have proven themselves worthy of a great team, which was not obvious when the team arrived in 2008.

May Not Deserve Because: They just won the title last year. They don't need another. Ownership sure doesn't deserve it: These are the guys who moved the Seattle SuperSonics, and they're now trying to build a new arena -- to replace the new arena they already have! What gives? Also, it's a conservative city, in a very red State. They don't deserve another title!

19. Miami Heat, East 10th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: Honestly, I can't think of a good reason, unless you mean finally throwing off 27 years of conservative Mayors last year. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro are interesting players, but not especially deserving. South Florida has a lot of ex-New Yorkers and ex-New Jerseyans, but, by itself, that doesn't help much.

May Not Deserve Because: One of America's most conservative cities, in one of America's most conservative States. They've won the title as recently as 2013, and been in the Finals as recently as 2023. There's no "guy to root for." And there's a reason those ex-New Yorkers and ex-New Jerseyans moved there: Because they wanted to get away from the multicultural society that their area has become.

18. Boston Celtics, East 2nd seed.

May Deserve Because: Boston is a liberal city, in a liberal State. And... that's about it.

May Not Deserve Because: The Celtics won the title as recently as 2024, and they've won more than any other team. They don't need another. And it's not like they have a great player who wasn't a part of that 2024 team, and hasn't won one.

17. Los Angeles Lakers, West 4th seed.

May Deserve Because: Los Angeles is a liberal city, in a Blue State. And that's about it.

May Not Deserve Because: They last won in 2020. How many more do they need? LeBron James certainly doesn't deserve another title.

16. San Antonio Spurs, West 2nd seed.

May Deserve Because: Victor Wembanyana is a special player.

May Not Deserve Because: They're in Texas. They last won in 2014, not that long ago. And Wembayana is only 22. He will, most likely, have many more chances. To put that in perspective: When they won their 1st NBA titles, LeBron James was 27, Michael Jordan was 28, Wilt Chamberlain was 30, Oscar Robertson was 32, Julius Erving was 33, and Jerry West was 34.

15. Golden State Warriors, West 10th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: San Francisco is regarded as the liberal city, and California as the Blue State. Steve Kerr is rightly one of the most admired men in the NBA, maybe the most admired, now that Gregg Popovich has retired from coaching. Steph Curry is beloved. He and some of the Warriors have won titles, but his brother Seth Curry and Jimmy Butler have not. But Butler won't win one this time, as he is unavailable due to a season-ending injury.

May Not Deserve Because: The Dubs have dominated the West, winning it 6 of the last 11 seasons, including 4 NBA Championships. They don't need another. I wouldn't mind if they did, especially if they beat a Red State team in the Finals. But they don't need it.

14. Denver Nuggets, West 3rd seed.

May Deserve Because: Denver is a liberal city, in a Blue State. Nikola Jokić is probably the best player in the world this season.

May Not Deserve Because: They won in 2023, which is very recent. Nobody on the team needs a title all that badly.

13. Cleveland Cavaliers, East 4th seed.

May Deserve Because: Cleveland is a liberal city. And the city has won only 1 World Championship since 1964, so they deserve it. James Harden and Donovan Mitchell are legends who probably deserve to win a title.

May Not Deserve Because: Cleveland's status as a liberal city, but it hasn't been able to turn Ohio away from being a Red State. Harden is a jerk. And that 1 title was the Cavs, only in 2016.

12. Houston Rockets, West 5th seed.

May Deserve Because: Houston is a liberal city. The Rockets haven't won a title, or even been to the Finals, since 1995.

May Not Deserve Because: Houston is still in Texas, among the reddest of the Red States. As a city, it last won a title in 2022, with the Astros *. And their biggest star is Kevin Durant, not exactly a player who needs another title.

11. Toronto Raptors, East 5th seed.

May Deserve Because: Toronto is a liberal city, in a liberal country. Brandon Ingram deserves a title.

May Not Deserve Because: The Raptors only won in 2019.

10. Orlando Magic, East 8th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: Orlando has never won a Championship, in any sport, unless you count the Orlando Pride winning the National Women's Soccer League title in 2024.

May Not Deserve Because: Florida is a Red State. And the Magic have no "He really deserves it" guy.

9. Atlanta Hawks, East 6th seed.

May Deserve Because: Atlanta is a liberal city. The Hawks haven't won a title since 1958, when they were in St. Louis. Indeed, since coming to Atlanta in 1970, they've only made the Conference Finals twice, in 2015 and 2021.

May Not Deserve Because: Georgia is still a Red State. Atlanta has proven itself to be a rotten sports city. While the Hawks haven't won a title, the city last won one only in 2021, with the Braves. And there's no especially-deserving player.

8. Phoenix Suns, West 7th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: The Suns have never won a title in 55 seasons, going 0-3 in the Finals. The only title for an Arizona-based team is the 2001 Diamondbacks *. Devin Booker deserves a title. And the Phoenix area is full of ex-Chicago people.

May Not Deserve Because: One of America's most conservative cities, and it's in what's usually still a Red State.

7. Charlotte Hornets, East 9th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: Charlotte is a blue city that, on occasion, has made North Carolina a Blue State. While Raleigh won a Stanley Cup in 2006, Charlotte has never won a title, with the Hornets never having reached the Conference Finals, and the Carolina Panthers having gone 0-2 in Super Bowls.

May Not Deserve Because: North Carolina is still a blue State, and there's no "guy to root for."

6. Detroit Pistons, East 1st seed.

May Deserve Because: Detroit is a liberal city, usually turning Michigan to be a Blue State. The city hasn't had a title since the 2008 Red Wings, and the Pistons haven't won since 2004 or been in the Finals since 2005. Just 2 seasons ago, they completed a run of season with only 20, 23, 17 and 14 wins, including a 28-game losing streak, tied for the longest losing streak in NBA, and major league sports, history. Their comeback under head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (son of former NBA coach Bernie) and general manager Trajan Langdon (former Duke star) has been remarkable.

May Not Deserve Because: The only reason I can think of is that they don't have a standout "He deserves it" guy. Cade Cunningham might be on his way, but he's not a legend yet. And 2004 wasn't that long ago.

5. Philadelphia 76ers, East 7th seed, play-in team. 

May Deserve Because: Philadelphia is a great city. It's a liberal city. Pennsylvania is a Blue State. It's been 43 years since they last won it all. It would make a few people I know happy, since I only live only 64 miles away. Joel Embiid deserves a title.

May Not Deserve Because: Their fans have been known to be a bit rough. And Kyle Lowry already has a title, with the 2019 Toronto Raptors.

4. Los Angeles Clippers, West 9th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: Los Angeles is a liberal city, in a Blue State. The Clippers are not the lordly Lakers: The franchise has been playing for 56 years, as the Buffalo Braves from 1970 to 1978, the San Diego Clippers from then until 1984, and the Los Angeles Clippers since. Their fans have suffered, especially in comparison to Laker fans. Bradley Beal deserves a title, but he is injured an unavailable. And they are no longer owned by the racist real-estate developer Donald Sterling. They are owned by Steve Ballmer, one of the more sympathetic super-rich guys.

May Not Deserve Because: Head coach Tyronn Lue has already won a title, with the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. So has Brook Lopez, with the 2021 Milwaukee Bucks. Other than that, no big reason.

3. Portland Trail Blazers, West 8th seed, play-in team.

May Deserve Because: Portland is a liberal city, and it keeps Oregon a Blue State. It's been 48 years since they last won it all, although the Portland Thorns won the NWSL title in 2022. Damian Lillard deserves a title, but has been injured all season.

May Not Deserve Because: Can't think of a good reason, although one of the current Blazers, Jrue Holiday, already has 2 titles, with the 2021 Milwaukee Bucks and the 2024 Boston Celtics. So he doesn't need another. It would help his Hall of Fame candidacy, but it wouldn't assure his election.

2. New York Knicks, East 3rd seed.

May Deserve Because: New York is the greatest city in the world, a liberal city in a Blue State. But unless you want to count the WNBA or soccer teams, it hasn't won a World Championship in any sport since the Giants in 2012. The Knicks haven't won one since 1973 -- 53 years. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Brunson and OG Anuoby are good guys who deserve a title. It's time.

May Not Deserve Because: Knick fans already think they know more about basketball than anybody. They might become insufferable if their team actually wins another title. And does James Dolan actually deserve a title? No.

1. Minnesota Timberwolves, West 6th seed.

May Deserve Because: Minneapolis is a liberal city, in a Blue State, and has suffered this calendar year. The City and the State have not won a title in any sport since the 1991 Twins. The T-Wolves have played since 1989, and while they've been to the Conference Finals in each of the last 2 seasons before this one, the city hasn't been to the NBA Finals since the 1954 Minneapolis Lakers. And if we're going by who's played a long time to earn a title, the T-Wolves have the most guys: Mike Conley Jr., Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson and Julius Randle.

May Not Deserve Because: I can't think of a good reason, unless you boycott Minneapolis-based Target, which has its name on both the T-Wolves' arena and the Twins' ballpark.

So there you have it: The Minnesota Timberwolves deserve to win the 2026 NBA Championship, more than any other team.

UPDATE: 2 beat 16. Better than usual.

Who's "Overrated"? And What Does It Mean?

The New York media always elevates its stars above their true level. Not just in baseball. Joe Namath is in his sport's Hall of Fame because he won one particular game. Had he lost it, he wouldn't be in. Lawrence Taylor was no better a linebacker than his Chicago contemporary Mike Singletary. Willis Reed was a really good center and team leader, but because he sank two baskets while in immense pain, he was raised to the level of a sports god. Mark Messier, the most beloved New York Ranger of all time, was one Vancouver goal short of being taken downstairs from Madison Square Garden to Penn Station and literally being run out of town on a rail as someone who failed New York.

This is why New York-based players Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays are considered the two best baseball players of their generation -- and they probably were -- but Hank Aaron usually gets listed behind them, when he was roughly their equal.

The media of Los Angeles also does this. It's why a mediocre manager like Tommy Lasorda is in the Hall of Fame, some people think Steve Garvey should be, Sandy Koufax with his brilliant but relatively short peak is raised above Juan Marichal and Bob Gibson, and Vin Scully, who was average at best, gets called the greatest broadcaster of all time.

Yes, I said it, and I stand by it: Vin Scully was not a great broadcaster.

It's why Kobe Bryant got forgiven for his heinous crime, why LeBron James gets called the greatest player by people who don't fall for the Michael Jordan propaganda, why Jerry West was called the greatest shooter until Steph Curry came along, and why Wayne Gretzky is now thought of as a better hockey player than Gordie Howe. The Los Angeles Times and the L.A. TV stations.

Chicago also does this, to a lesser extent. It's why Jordan gets considered the greatest player ever, Ernie Banks and Walter Payton became beloved far outside "Chicagoland," the 1985 Bears are held up as the pinnacle of defense, and Bobby Hull became the 1st hockey player that most Americans loved. (Gordie Howe was respected, but, south of the Canadian border, never truly loved outside Michigan.)

Boston, too, does this, to a lesser extent. It's why the 1967 Red Sox, and Carl Yastrzemski in particular, became so beloved despite having lost the World Series; why Larry Bird is sometimes put on the same level as Jordan and Magic Johnson; why Bobby Orr became America's most beloved hockey player, even though he wasn't American; why David Ortiz is beloved, and his failed steroid test and other failures of character are ignored; and why Tom Brady is considered the greatest quarterback ever, and not the blatant cheating egomaniac he actually is.

Back to New York, and its media's effects. Derek Jeter is handsome and personable, never embarrassed his team and his fans unlike Alex Rodriguez, and got the job done, pretty much anytime the Yankees needed it. It made him a star.

And so, people who hate New York, and the Yankees in particular, call him "overrated." And, yes, they do have a point: He's not "on the Yankee Mount Rushmore" with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mantle. He's not even the most important player in that era of Yankees: Mariano Rivera made the difference between maybe just 2 or 3 Pennants, and the actually-won 7 Pennants and 5 World Championships.

But Rivera was a pitcher. And a relief pitcher, at that. And foreign, with an accent. That last one shouldn't have been a factor, but it was. Jeter is the son of an interracial couple, and faced no illusions while growing up: As a boy, he was reminded that he was black. But he was an "All-American Boy," and seen as "more white" than Rivera. Jeter was the sellable leader of that 1996-2003 Yankee team, and certainly of the 2009 Champions, compared to Rivera, the problematic Alex Rodriguez, and the superb by very foreign Hideki Matsui.

So Jeter was put above everyone. And people inclined to love the Yankees embraced this, and people inclined to hate the Yankees called him "overrated," and some even said that he "sucks" -- to the point where this was addressed when he hosted Saturday Night Live.

But he was an all-time great. He is, arguably, the best shortstop of the last 100 years. Or, at least, the best player to have played that position. A-Rod? We may never know when he started using performance-enhancing drugs, so how can we know he was truly "better"?

And as for the argument that Jeter was a bad (or even "the worst") defensive shortstop? "Advanced metrics" is bullshit that people who hate somebody made up to feel better about themselves and their team. Use your eyes: Jeter has more "highlight reel" plays preserved than any other player, at any position, including the beloved St. Louis Cardinals shortstop legend Ozzie Smith.

That doesn't mean that DiMaggio or Willie Mays -- or, if we're limiting this to shortstops, Luis Aparicio -- didn't have more great plays that simply weren't preserved for posterity, on film or videotape. It does mean that we have proof that Jeter was a great-fielding shortstop, and anybody who says otherwise is using evidence that simply doesn't hold up.

The Mets' fans of that era needed a star on the same magnitude, so they tried to make one out of Mike Piazza, who, unlike Jeter, might actually be the worst defensive player in the history of his position. The Mets needed a captain on the same magnitude as Jeter, so they tried to make David Wright that. And now, having failed to make Pete Alonso "the face of New York baseball" while Aaron Judge was the better player, they're trying to do it with Francisco Lindor. Bitch, please.

It's important to note: "Overrated" does not mean "bad." A player can be truly great, as Jeter was, and still be overrated, treated as more or greater than he actually is. Occasionally, a player gets called "overrated" so much and for so long, people forget how great he was: He becomes "so overrated, he's underrated."

As Leonard Nimoy would say, It is not logical, but it is often true.

November 28, 1925: The "Old" Garden & the Grand Ole Opry

November 28, 1925, 100 years ago: Madison Square Garden, the 3rd building with the name, opens between 49th and 50th Streets, between 8th and 9th Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan, at the northern end of the Theater District. The front entrance is on 8th Avenue, topped by a marquee that will soon be world-famous.

The 1st Garden was built at the northeast corner of 26th Street and Madison Avenue, catty-corner from Madison Square Park, in 1879. It had no roof. It was replaced in 1890 with a Moorish-style building, designed by the renowned architect Stanford White, that not only had a roof, but a tower with a roof garden where shows were hosted, and an apartment for White atop that.

Atop that was a statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. This statue, sculpted of gilt copper by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, was nude, and the hoity-toity critics of the day hated it. One of the nastiest reviews came from a Philadelphia newspaper. Ironically, when the 2nd Garden was demolished, the Diana statue was taken to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (you know, the one whose steps Rocky Balboa ran up), and is still there. A copy now stands in New York's equivalent, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For both versions, the bowstring has been lost.

Otherwise, they are intact.

White would take showgirls up to his rooftop apartment, for a pre-movies version of a "casting couch." One was Evelyn Nesbit, whom he then made a star. She left him for a man named Harry Thaw. On June 25, 1906, jealous over Evelyn still having feelings for "Stanny," Thaw went to the roof garden during a show, and shot White. Evelyn's star faded: Late in life, she said, "Stanny White died. My fate was worse: I lived."

The New York Life insurance company owned the mortgage on the 2nd Garden, and decided to tear it down to build their new headquarters. George "Tex" Rickard, the top boxing promoter of the era, decided to build his own arena, where he wouldn't have to worry about anybody else's whims. He was lucky that New York Life was willing to sell him the rights to the name "Madison Square Garden": It was already a valuable brand name, which is a big reason why the "new Garden" has never sold naming rights.

When his Garden proved successful, he decided to build 6 copies, all over America. It didn't work out that way: He built the Boston Madison Square Garden in 1928 -- soon, it became simply "The Boston Garden" -- but died early the next year. He had gone to Miami to escape the cold New York weather, and to make a deal on a prizefight featuring up-and-coming heavyweight Jack Sharkey (who would hold the title from mid-1932 to mid-1933), but came down with appendicitis. This was before antibiotics, and he was dead at age 59.

The 1st event at The Garden was a six-day bicycle race. It sounds ridiculous today, but this kind of competition was huge in the "Roaring Twenties," especially in Europe, where it's still popular 100 years later. Teams of 2 men take turns riding for 6 days straight, from 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM, and the winner is the team that completes the most laps.

The 1st prizefight was held on December 8, for the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. Paul Berlenbach defended the title by winning a unanimous decision over Jack Delaney. The following July, Delaney took the title from Berlenbach in a rematch at Ebbets Field.

The Garden became known as "The Mecca of Boxing." Heavyweight Joe Louis, light heavyweight Archie Moore, middleweight Sugar Ray Robinson, lightweight Henry Armstrong, and more became internationally-known superstars from their fights at The Garden.

It would also be known as "The Mecca of Basketball," with collegiate doubleheaders starting in 1934. It became a secondary home court for the City's college teams: New York University (NYU), City College of New York (CCNY), Long Island University (LIU), Columbia, Fordham and St. John's.

It also hosted the annual National Invitational Tournament (NIT), starting in 1938. And it hosted what would now be called the NCAA Final Four in 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1950, the last of these won by CCNY, which also won the NIT that year, the only time this "double" was ever achieved. 

The point-shaving scandal the next year crippled college basketball in New York City, and not only led to St. John's, not accused in the scandal, being the only major program that has survived on that level, but the NCAA ruling that teams could no longer compete in both their tournament and the NIT. The Final Four did not return to the New York Tri-State Area until 1996, when it was held at the Meadowlands.

That scandal coincided with the 1st trip to the NBA Finals for the New York Knicks, who debuted at The Garden in 1946. The scandal may have saved the Knicks, and thus may also have saved the NBA: Hoop fans needed something to turn to.

Rickard, who didn't always do things on the up-and-up, offered use of The Garden to Big Bill Dwyer, a bootlegger, who founded a hockey team, the New York Americans. The 1st NHL team in New York debuted on December 15, 1925, losing to the Montreal Canadiens 3-1.

The "Amerks" did so well at the box office that Rickard, noting that New York had 3 Major League Baseball teams, decided that it could support 2 hockey teams. So he founded his own team, and when the media found out, they nicknamed the new team "Tex's Rangers." He decided to go with it, and the New York Rangers debuted at The Garden on November 16, 1926, beating the Montreal Maroons 1-0.

With Rickard's promotional skills, the Rangers proved even more successful than the Americans. World War II knocked the Amerks out, as the manpower drain caused by the American and Canadian military drafts forced them to suspend operations after the 1941-42 season, and they never returned.

But the Rangers, the Knicks, college basketball games, prizefights, circuses, musical performances, ice skating shows, rodeos, and an event that predated even the 1st Garden, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, continued at The Garden through the 1930s, the '40s, and the '50s. Madison Square Garden was right up there with the Empire State Building and Grand Central Terminal as the most famous building in the City.

But poor sight lines, and the need for more space and more dates, proved the arena's undoing. In 1960, the Pennsylvania Railroad, desperate for money, sold the air rights above Pennsylvania Station, between 31st and 33rd Streets and 7th and 8th Avenues, to the Madison Square Garden Corporation. The plan was to build a new station on the site, and a new arena on top of that.

On the afternoon of February 11, 1968, the Rangers played their last game at "the Old Garden," a 3-3 tie with the Detroit Red Wings, which was followed by a final skate with several NHL legends, including the Wings' still-active Gordie Howe. That night, "the New Garden" opened with "The Night of the Century," a salute to the USO, the United Service Organizations, which since 1941 has worked with the armed forces to provide supplies and entertainment. The co-hosts were old film partners and golfing buddies Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

The last event at the Old Garden was 2 days later, February 13, the Westminster Dog Show. Demolition soon began. The site became a parking lot while various parties haggled over what to build on the site. Finally, in 1989, the 778-foot office and residential tower Worldwide Plaza opened there. The Subway station at 50th Street includes a mural dedicated to the Old Garden.

Worldwide Plaza

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On the same day, The Grand Ole Opry is first broadcast, on radio station WSM, 650 on the AM dial, in Nashville, Tennessee. The station itself was brand-new, having gone on the air the preceding October 5, its call letters standing for the slogan of its original owner, the National Life & Accident Insurance Company: "We Shield Millions."

The Opry stage at the Ryman

George Hay, an Indiana native, had been a reporter for what was then the largest-circulating newspaper in Tennessee, the Memphis-based The Commercial Appeal. When that paper founded a radio station in 1923 (many early radio stations were founded by newspapers), WMC, he was its first evening announcer. In 1924, he left for Chicago station WLS, and hosted a program titled National Barn Dance.

In 1925, he took the concept to Nashville and WSM. The original Opry, officially titled WSM Barn Dance, was a one-hour program, simulating a barn dance but broadcasting from a radio studio. The show's 1st performer was Uncle Jimmy Thompson, a fiddler, already 77 years old. In other words, he had been born in 1848, only 52 years after Tennessee had become a State. (He lived until 1931.)

Most of the early performers on the show wouldn't be recognizable names today, but among them was Bill Monroe, the fiddler considered the inventor of bluegrass music, who was still performing up until his death in 1996, and whose song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" would be on the B-side of "That's All Right," the 1st single release of Elvis Presley.

(Elvis only appeared on the Opry once, on October 2, 1954. The audience reacted politely, but Jim Denny, by then the show's manager, told him that his style did not suit the program. Also before becoming nationally known, Elvis made several appearances, and was received considerably better, on a well-known radio show out of Shreveport: The Louisiana Hayride.)

An early regular act was the Fruit Jar Drinkers, whom Hay wanted to close every show, because he liked their "red hot fiddle playing." They were led by a banjo player, Uncle Dave Macon, a.k.a. the Dixie Dewdrop. Music historian Charles Wolfe wrote, "If people call yodelling Jimmie Rodgers 'the father of country music,' then Uncle Dave must certainly be 'the grandfather of country music.'"

If you've ever wondered why, in his song "Blue Suede Shoes" (covered by Elvis), among the things he would forgive before he would accept you stepping on said footwear, Carl Perkins listed, "drink my liquor from an ole fruit jar," this was clearly a tribute to the Fruit Jar Drinkers.

In 1926, WSM joined the 1st American radio network, the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC. On December 10, 1927, after playing Music Appreciation Hour, a classical music show which, that night, had been playing selections from grand opera, WSM Barn Dance came on. And Hay introduced DeFord Bailey by saying, "For the past hour, we have been listening to music largely from grand opera. But, from now on, we will present 'The Grand Ole Opry.'" The name stuck, and has been used ever since.

The show became more popular, and made the City of Nashville synonymous with country music, and vice versa. People wanted to watch as they broadcast. The larger studio they built turned out not to be big enough. In 1934, they moved to the Hillsboro Theatre, so they could have a paying audience. They outgrew that, too. They moved to the Dixie Tabernacle in East Nashville in 1936. Then came the War Memorial Auditorium.

Finally, in 1943, they moved back downtown, to the 2,362-seat Ryman Auditorium, and it became known as "The Mother Church of Country Music."

It remained home to the show until 1974, when, due to cramped quarters, it was moved out to the new Grand Ole Opry House at the Opryland USA theme park. In 1997, the park closed, and the Opry Mills Mall was built on the site. All the while, the Opry House remained open.

The Ryman remained open, and was renovated with modern amenities in 1994. In 2010, the flooding of the Cumberland River damaged the Opry House, and the show temporarily moved back to the Ryman while repairs were made.

George Hay died in 1968, at the age of 72. The Opry lives on, sometimes alternating between the Ryman and the Opry House.

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November 28, 1925 was a Saturday. The Army-Navy Game was played that day, at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan. Army won, 10-3.