I’m not sure when I became a Knicks fan. I think it was somewhere before the 1992-1993 basketball season. Looking at the 1991-92 Knicks roster, I don’t remember watching that team. So it was probably 1992-93.
I’m also not sure what got me watching the Knicks. Maybe because basketball was hot amongst my friends and I was into New York hip-hop, was born in New York, and the Orlando Magic weren’t quite good yet, leaving the Knicks as a logical team to root for, even if I lived in the Florida suburbs.
(As far as the Florida-based Magic were concerned, 1992-93 was Shaq’s rookie year. The Magic were fun to watch, but they were not competing with the Bulls for a championship like the Knicks were. The Knicks had identity. At the time, the Magic only had Shaq.)
I quickly became a diehard Knicks fan, the only one in my family. I watched by myself or with friends as the Knicks lost to the Bulls, then to the Rockets in the 1994 NBA Finals. In June 1994, I got my driver’s license while wearing a John Starks jersey.
After the Knicks lost to the Pacers in the 1995 NBA Playoffs, I took my fandom to the military, where I met more Bulls fans and several Miami Heat fans. After losing again to the Bulls in 1996, the Knicks lost to the Heat in 97, and the Pacers in 1998.
In 1999, I didn’t have the opportunity to follow as closely as the military sent me to Bosnia, but when I got back in March, the Knicks were on a run that led to the NBA Finals, which ended with a series loss to the San Antonio Spurs in 5 games. The Knicks didn’t have much of a chance. The Spurs were bigger, faster, and flat out better. That was the start of the Spurs dynasty that was classy, played well, and was difficult to root against.
The following season, during my first year at Florida State, the Knicks lost again to the Pacers in the playoffs. Then in 2001, they traded Patrick Ewing, the heart and soul of their team, and lost in the first round to the upstart Raptors. The Golden Era of Knicks Basketball was over without a championship.
The Knicks failed to make the playoffs in 2002 and 2003. I watched as the organization began to fall apart. Trades failed, free agents didn’t play well, and decisions were made that lost focus and direction. In 2004, they made the playoffs only to get swept by the Nets. After that, I was out.
I officially boycotted the Knicks in 2005. I couldn’t watch. They were so bad and so mismanaged, it wasn’t worth my time. I was in grad school and didn’t have the time to watch bad basketball.
In 2007, I started blogging, mostly about sports. As I refused to follow the Knicks and their franchise woes for hundreds of days, I called myself a “Knicks Nation Refugee”. I did however write a few articles about the Knicks and my depressed fandom.
Boycotting Isiah – 12/10/2006
Those Fightin Knicks – 12/17/2006
Dusting off those glorious Knicks memories – 5/28/2007
Notes from a Knicks Nation refugee – 12/2/2007
The Latest Dispatch from a Knicks Nation Refugee – 4/10/2008
The Return of a Knicks Nation refugee – 4/21/2008
Anthony Mason, Hip-Hop, and Hunger – 2/28/2015
I also wrote a piece for the Knicks blog Posting and Toasting on Knicks draft pick Toney Douglas, formerly of the Florida State Seminoles. That post is no longer available on their website.
During my boycott, Knicks fans fell in love with Stephon Marbury and Carmelo Anthony. They were worth watching, but the rest of the team lacked personality and teamwork. And for all their good qualities, Starbury and Melo never played the type of basketball I was used to seeing in a Knicks uniform. They were solo scorers who tried to dominate games on their own. Still not seeing anything worth watching, I stayed wrapped in my refugee blanket huddled under a bridge and watched the seasons go by, my Knicks attire gaining years and dust in my closet.
My boycott lasted for a decade. Meanwhile, those who watched the Knicks saw them get swept by the Celtics in the 2011 NBA Playoffs. They did win one playoff game against the Heat in 2012. I remember watching that series. Small progress. As a measure of my wavering fandom, I bought my first Knicks jersey in almost 20 years, the aforementioned Toney Douglas, number 23.
In 2012-2013, there was hope. The Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks defeated the Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. They were then defeated yet again by the Pacers.
Then seven years of desolation, depression, and dismal basketball. They were bad. Really bad. Their best players weren’t even good enough to be 3rd string on other teams. “Sell the team” chants rang throughout Madison Square Garden. The team was rudderless and repulsive. They sucked. Plain and simple. I maybe watched a handful of games from 2012 to 2020. Again, investing my emotions into the Knicks wasn’t worth my time.
I did meet up with a friend all the time to watch basketball, the Knicks and otherwise. During COVID, he disappeared and I have only talked to him once since. I hope he is ok.
In 2023, something happened. The Knicks not only made the playoffs, but they won a series for the first time in ten years. Led by newcomer Jalen Brunson, they showed grit and moxie. They played like they had something to prove. I tuned in to the playoffs and saw them beat the Cavaliers, then lose to the Heat, yet again.
The following year, I stuck to my same pattern of not watching the regular season, but watching every game of the playoffs. This routine serves me well in hockey as well. I just don’t have the bandwidth to watch all the games for all the sports. Basketball and hockey have become playoff-only viewing. But like the Lightning in hockey-loving Tampa Bay, after 2023, the Knicks made the playoffs fun again. Unfortunately in 2024, after again winning the first round, this time against the 76ers, the Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers. Again.
In 2025, the Knicks made moves to bring in better players to compliment budding superstar Jalen Brunson. The organization was trying. They acquired players with an edge. Players who fit the Knicks style of play. The Knicks continued their climb, this time to the Eastern Conference Finals, against the dreaded Pacers. Again, the Pacers edged out the Knicks in seven games.
(Seriously, the Pacers are the bane of my fandom. For those counting at home, the Pacers have eliminated the Knicks five times in the playoffs since 1997. Ridiculous.)
Fortunately, in 2026 the Knicks didn’t have to face the Pacers in the playoffs as Indiana was one of the worst teams in the league. With that boogeyman out of the way, the Knicks embarked on another playoff run in 2026 with an enthusiastic, team-oriented, well-constructed roster led by Brunson, but supported by several other players who could be top stars elsewhere. Some had even won titles on other teams. They brought experience and confidence.
Down went the Hawks in the first round in six games.
Down went the Sixers in four games. This is when I started watching again.
Down went the Cavaliers in four games. There was something about this team worth getting excited over.
Meanwhile, out west, the San Antonio Spurs made the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and squeaked past the Oklahoma City Thunder to make their first NBA Finals since 2014.
A rematch of 1999.
Again the Spurs had a wunderkind on their roster. In 1999, future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan was in his second year and beginning to show the world his elite skillset. In 2026, the Spurs were fronted by Victor Wembanyana, a 7’4’’ Frenchman who could not only dunk without jumping, but could shoot 3-pointers with accuracy. The league has never seen anyone like Victor Wembanyana.
Despite the Knicks streak of victories, I wasn’t confident. Maybe it was the cynic in me. Maybe it was the spirit of the Knicks Nation Refugee still lurking within. I hoped for the best, but I prepared to be disappointed.
Then the Knicks won Game 1 in San Antonio. Then they won Game 2, also in San Antonio. Up 2 to 0, the series looked like a mismatch. Wembanyana looked like a baby giraffe struggling to stay on his feet. He was also playing dirty, throwing elbows and pushing Knicks players. But that didn’t upset the Knicks, who seemed to gain energy from every missed call and every blatant overly aggressive Spurs tactic.
This wasn’t the gentlemanly Spurs of a previous era. This was the reincarnation of former Spurs defensive stopper Bruce Bowen, a player known for his questionable moves on defense. But the Knicks persevered.
Following a Game 3 loss, the Knicks couldn’t stop the Spurs in the first half of Game 4. Down by as many as 29 points, the series looked destined to be tied. Previous Knicks teams of the last 30 years would have let the Spurs win by 60 or more. But Jalen Brunson and this Knicks team refused to give up. In the 3rd quarter, the Spurs still led by 15, which slowly turned to 12, to 9, to 6, and finally we had a tie game in the 4th quarter. The most insane comeback I have ever seen. The biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.
It was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series in basketball form. In that game, the Mets were down by 2 runs in the 10th inning with the World Series on the line. Lose and its over. Win, and play Game 7. A single here, a wild pitch there, and a costly error by Boston and the game was over. Boston blew the lead and the Mets won. Although they started down 3-0 in the first few innings of Game 7, once the Mets got rolling, they rode their momentum to win Game 7 and the World Series. They knew after the Game 6 comeback that Boston was beatable, no matter how steep the odds.
The Knicks knew the same about the Spurs going into Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals. No lead was insurmountable after Game 4. All the Knicks had to do was play their game. Or when in doubt, give the ball to Jalen Brunson. Brunson would not be denied.
Down by as many as 15 in Game 5, the Knicks slowly chipped away. By a few minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Knicks were tied or within one shot of the lead. Brunson was unstoppable.
It is difficult to explain how I was feeling. When they were down by 10, I was rooting, but I couldn’t see the pot of gold. When they were tied with two minutes left, the pot of gold shined brighter than it ever had. The score went back and forth for the last two minutes, but when the game was over, it finally happened.
The New York Knicks won an NBA Championship.
I had to pause for a moment after typing that. I had to look at those words in all their glory.
NBA Champion New York Knicks.
When you root for a team for 34 years, there is an emotional bond. Yes, I walked away for a decade. But they weren’t trying either. When our energies matched, it was special. It was emotional. I almost cried. All the seasons of disappointment are erased. This is the foremost memory.
In 2007, I wrote a blog post listing my favorite Knicks memories. My top 3 were 1994, 1995, and 1997. But after June 13th, 2026, Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals will forever be at the top of my list.
One of the problems with getting older is that it gets harder to be amazed. You’ve seen a lot and few things surprise you. We no longer have a child’s sense of wonder. We did. But the days pass and life becomes routine. But sometimes something so great and wonderful happens that is so unexpected, so joyous, and so exhilarating that it makes you feel emotions you have never felt in a way you have never felt them. Like you just discovered happiness for the first time. Or you tasted a new flavor of ice cream that automatically becomes your new favorite. You feel like a kid again. A new positive core memory is written for the first time in a long time.
My teams have won championships in baseball (1986) and college football (1999 and 2013). I also been happy to see the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup multiple times, although I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan. But I am a huge fan of the New York Knicks and I had never experienced championship joy because of them. Until now.
Another pause while I wipe away a tear or two.
These days, I have a weird relationship with New York. It is the land of my birth, and the land from which two of my favorite teams hail, the Knicks and the Mets, but I have lost all patience with New Yorkers, especially those who have moved to Florida in the last ten years. Florida is being overdeveloped and we are losing precious natural resources because too many northeasterners, mostly New Yorkers, moved to Florida. To steal a phrase from our esteemed president, we need to build a wall, a big wall.
But New York is also home to the Knicks, my favorite basketball team. And they just won their first championship in 53 years. As I watched with dozens of New Yorkers in a local sports bar, I wore the same John Starks jersey I’ve had since high school. The jersey I wore when I got my driver’s license. Other Knicks fans wore jerseys of other players throughout the years. It didn’t matter where we were from or how long we lived wherever we lived. The jersey on our back told the story of our fandom.
When the series was over, I hugged and high-fived people with bloodlines straight from Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. We’ve waited years for this. Our team won the NBA Championship for the first time in our lifetime.
The Knicks are World Champions. Finally.
