C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News:

For 53 years, the Knicks had history.

On Saturday night, Jalen Brunson gave them the present.

The wait ended at Frost Bank Center, where the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 94–90, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and won their first championship since 1973. It ended with Brunson at the center of everything, with Knicks fans roaring in San Antonio and with a franchise once buried under old punchlines leaving Texas with the trophy every generation before this one had chased.

Finally, the Knicks are champions again.

I grew up watching Knicks basketball during the Patrick Ewing era of the ’80s and ’90s, but haven’t followed the team since I fled the city in 1998, the year before they last made the NBA Finals. I’ve never known a Knicks championship. It’s a surreal experience to feel joy for a franchise you once loved passionately but haven’t thought about in almost three decades.

Congratulations to the Knicks and to New Yorkers (and former New Yorkers) everywhere. You deserve this.

(I checked and yes, this is the first time I’ve ever linked to the NY Daily News. It won’t become a habit.)