IT HAS HAPPENED

BY MIKE RIFKIN

For the first time in 53 years the New York Knicks won the NBA Championship. For the first time since 2012 there will be a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, and for the first time in my life (soon to be 33 years) I’ve witnessed one of my teams win a title. 

One of the things sports can do is be a distraction from things that go on in the real world. And for the last two months, for roughly about three hours watching the Knicks was a distraction from what is going on in the world. Now, I am not the biggest Basketball fan in the world, but this team was so damn fun and likeable. 

If you were to ask me when I was a kid who would be the first team I get to witness win a title that I genuinely rooted for the Knicks wouldn’t have been the choice. I’m not old enough to really remember the Patrick Ewing era, but what I do remember was the Knicks bringing in big names and most of the time it flopped. For most of my childhood the Knicks were a laughingstock. 

July 12th, 2022, is a day that changed the entire fortune of a franchise. Jalen Brunson signed with the team. And while talking heads and pundits could question the contract, all Brunson did was endear himself to New York. He left money on the table for the Knicks to make moves to surround him with great players. He got a few of his college teammates, and then they add OG Anunoby and Karl Anthony Towns. But what they did was not just win a Championship for a city that pined for one, they brought back something that I had never seen in my life, they brought a swagger to Madison Square Garden. 

When we look at MSG they always show the celebrities at the games. Whether it’s Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, Timothee Chalamet, etc… they’re always shown but at the end of the day they’re all New Yorkers and Knicks fans. Yes, it’s been 53 years since the Knicks won it all, but this championship unites the state of New York and when you see people celebrate in the streets, because in a world filled with chaos, the Knicks have given us joy. And whether you’re a celebrity or another fan we’re all New Yorkers and we’re all Knick fans at the end, and in a time where we talk about the “superteams” a real team won a title, and that’s pretty damn neat.