For the first time in 53 years, the New York Knicks became NBA champions this summer, and it’s not a moment anyone will soon forget. Even with so much depth and chemistry, few predicted the Knicks would beat out the competition, but they took care of business in epic fashion, prompting a wave of reactions across the NBA world.
Rockets star Kevin Durant has no direct ties to the Knicks, but he was just as surprised as everyone else to see them as the last team standing. In a recent chat with Speedy Mormon, the two-time champion explained his real-time reaction to the run and what it says about the Knicks as a whole.
“I was on the fence on if they were going to win,” said Durant. “And then they got down every game, and I’m just like, ‘I don’t know.’ And then they started coming back. I didn’t become a believer, to be honest, until the last game. I was just like, the Spurs would be up 15 points every game, 29 points, and then they’d just come back and steal a game. That’s probably why that was the best championship as a viewer that I’ve ever seen.”
“Not just because of the Knicks brand winning, but just the fashion they won those games in, it was insane. It really showed you the power dynamic in the NBA: a veteran team that was put together through trades vs. a team that drafted everybody that a lot of people would have loved to see win. For the Knicks to do it that way, I felt they made a statement.”
After finishing 53-29 in the regular season, the Knicks peaked at the right time to go 16-3 over four playoff rounds. During the Finals, Durant was on the fence about New York beating San Antonio, but they won out in the end (in five games) with perseverance, teamwork, and a major level of focus. Of course, star guard Jalen Brunson is the one who made it all possible with averages of 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game in the series. He was named Finals MVP for his performance, and then pulled the ultimate act of selflessness by agreeing to take a massive pay cut.
Durant admits it’s not what he would have done, but he won’t knock Brunson for taking one for the team.
“I understand his thought process and why he actually executed that. I can’t put myself in that position and just say, ‘Yeah, I would have done it or not.’ For him to make that decision and come out the way it did, kudos to him. But hopefully he gets that back on the back end,” said Durant on Brunson’s reported $100 million voluntary pay cut. “I would have gotten talked out of it. I probably would have been like, ‘All right, I’m cool with it.’ I’d have sat down and talked to all my people like I usually do, Rich, all my friends. Like, ‘What? Are you serious? Why do you need to take that risk when this dude’s a billionaire?’ Nobody would do that.”
“If you just throw that on the table and say, right now, make a choice, nobody would turn that down. But if you sat down and thought about it and they put everything on the table, ‘This will happen in four years if you do this, this is how the team could be built, we could for sure win a chip’, it sounds good when you sell it to somebody that way. There’s always going to be a hundred that you don’t have. Even if you get it back, it’s like, well, I still could’ve had an extra hundred. Even if you give me a hundred again.”
It took a while for their ambitions to come to fruition, but there is no question the Knicks have built something special. Between Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby, they have one of the best cores in basketball and a leader in Jalen Brunson, who is willing to sacrifice millions for the sake of maintaining this trajectory.
For Durant, it’s an outcome he never saw coming, but one he can learn a few lessons from. For one, no lead is safe with this Knicks team, as we saw in the Finals when they repeatedly mounted double-digit comebacks. Most importantly, Durant learned just how much Jalen Brunson is willing to give for the success and prosperity of the Knicks, and there’s no denying that he just set the ultimate example for his fellow superstars.
