‘Magical moment’: Knicks celebrate NBA victory back in New York City

The New York Knicks haven’t stopped celebrating.

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The now iconic starting lineup — Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby — made a pit stop at “TODAY” on their victory tour Monday morning to talk about bringing the first NBA championship to New York City in 53 years.

“It hasn’t settled in yet,” said Brunson, who could barely speak when he was interviewed moments after the win. He added that at the time, “I was just trying to find the right words and I really couldn’t.”

“It was a magical moment. It was honestly something truly special that no matter how I try to explain it, it won’t grasp how truly special it was,” Brunson told “TODAY” co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin.

The Knicks faced the San Antonio Spurs in their first Finals appearance since 1999, which, coincidentally, featured the same matchup but with different results.

This time, New York secured the title against San Antonio with a 4-1 win that culminated with a 4-point lead as the final buzzer sounded during Game 5 Saturday night.

The win “wasn’t just one person, it was everybody,” Brunson, known as Captain Clutch, said. “We have each other’s back.”

Anunoby, who was the hero of Game 4 with a miraculous tip-in at the basket with seconds left on the clock, hasn’t slept at all since that fateful moment in Texas.

“We had to get ready for Game 5,” Anunoby said of his less-than-excited demeanor after Game 4, adding that he “couldn’t get too excited about it.”

“I love my teammates, love these guys, love the fans,” he added.

Towns marveled at seeing the “fans so excited, to see the city so alive.”

“As long as we’re unified and doing our best to play our game, we believe no one in the world can beat us,” Towns said. “We want to play for each other.”

Aside from the stellar play on the court, Towns said, another factor could have contributed to the historic win.

Towns’ fiancée, Jordyn Woods, went viral after bringing an orange bag from her brand to almost all playoff games in the postseason. They hadn’t lost a game since she started bringing it, except for Game 3 in the Finals, when a no-bag policy was instated at Madison Square Garden because President Donald Trump attended the game.

“We’ve been very fortunate that this bag has come with us on this championship run,” Towns said.

A 53-year wait

The Knicks’ championship marks one of the greatest playoff runs in NBA history.

After losing Games 2 and 3 in the first round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks did the unthinkable, winning the next 13 playoff games, sweeping both the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the postseason and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks then won Games 1 and 2 against the Spurs, before losing to the Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, when they returned to the Garden for Game 3.

During Game 4, the Knicks completed the largest comeback in NBA playoff history, erasing a 29-point deficit to go up 3-1 against the Spurs.

Saturday night cemented the team’s legendary status among New Yorkers, bringing unimaginable amounts of joy to the city after decades of heartbreak.

“Sorry it took so long!” Knicks owner James Dolan said Saturday night while accepting the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time since 1973.

The victory came in coach Mike Brown’s first year at the helm, after longtime coach Tom Thibodeau was fired after the Knicks fell to the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals.

And it wasn’t without crucial moves by some of the team’s other stars, including longtime Knicks Mitchell Robinson, and strong bench shooters Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado, Miles “Deuce” McBride and Jordan Clarkson.

The Nova Knicks remain victorious

The team’s winning iteration was built around Brunson , the 6-foot-2 point guard who joined the Knicks in 2022. He scored a whopping 45 points Saturday night.

Hart and Bridges joined in the years that followed, reuniting the three teammates and friends — known as the Nova Knicks — who had been victorious together at Villanova University when they won the NCAA Championship in 2016.

They were the top three scorers Saturday night.

Brunson famously took a $113 million pay cut to build this version of the team, specifically to secure both Bridges and Towns, who were key to this year’s win.

I’m “so blessed and grateful to be here,” Bridges said Monday.

The head coach at the time, Jay Wright, shared a message for the Nova Knicks on Monday morning.

“We’re so proud of you, we’re so happy for you,” he said. “We’re mostly proud of how you represent New York ... and how you represent our Villanova community.”

Hart was asked Monday about a now-famous video of Brunson finding out that his best friend had been traded from the Lakers to the Knicks.

“Obviously, that’s my brother,” Hart said. “We had a bond that was formed through adversity ... it’s cool to live this moment with my brothers next to me.