Did the New York Knicks WIN the NBA Championship because of their chemistry?! | Get Up

ship win in San Antonio.This is their plane arriving back in Westchester yesterday.Jalen Brunson carrying the Larry O 'Brien trophy off the team plane as they were greeted by fans.Celebrations will continue this week.The parade is Thursday.Here was Kat this morning on GMA.

You see so many times, like you said, you're saying the greats, you know, have this parade and to see great New York teams have that moment and for it to finally be our time, you know, it's It's one of those things you always dream of as a kid, especially growing up in the area, you never know if you're even going to be able to attend the parade and get close enough to see the greats but to be the ones actually doing the path and following behind some amazing legends before us in New York history.I think it's going to be something really really special.

That's the entire starting 5 sitting there and this is the number that they put up this is a ridiculous number there.Plus minus in the playoffs was 283.The next closest team, there's by a margin of 53 points, the most dominant in NBA history.The next closest were the 2017 Warriors, who I will repeat again, were so good.that they changed the rules.If you don't like the second apron, you can blame the 2017 Warriors, because the league had to change the rules.

That team was so good.The Knicks run just obliterated what that team did.They went 16 and 3.Wendy, they lost three games by 4, 1, and 1 points.They lost one game over the course of the last two months.What are the right things to say about the run?

We just saw this team go on.

and yet they were underdogs going into the finals and yet they were the some of the greatest playing from behind because they were behind in these all of these games and they made these incredible comebacks and they were also absolute killers in closeout games all every time they got a chance to close outthey didn't just win, they did psychological damage to their opponent.I mean, truly, one of the great playoff runs we have seen in the modern era.And we've seen the modern era where the Warriors went through at 16 -1.So, absolutely an incredible performance.Hopped off with Jalen Brunson's Game 5.

closeout effort which will go down in history as one of the great closeout performances in history.

Yeah, I wouldn't do a list of the greatest closeout performances ever later this morning and we'll see where Brunson's goes on it.J Will, this team's run.

All -time great team, all -time great run.I don't know where it ranks.I honestly don't care.Every NBA Finals game, you are down double digits and you find a way to walk them down the street and win the game down the stretch.To win the Finals, Game 5 in San Antonio, where your star player has a 45 -point closeout game.Spectacular.

Spectacular.When people say, well, the ball needs to bounce your way, that's for every championship team.Every championship team, the ball needs to bounce your way.Things need to fall into line for you to have a chance to win the championship.Things have bounced their way.We saw that against Atlanta.

We saw them literally walk other teams down the street, and they are one of the most dominant teams with one of the most dominant runs.Now, look, you can say they may not beat Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, but today, I don't give a damn.

That's exactly right.They don't matter.They don't have to play them.Go ahead, Allen.

Can I get that music again?And I get a scotch and a scotch.7 -2 in the last four years in road closeout games.7 -2.That's what this team has been always about.4 -0 in closeout games here.

As the music is playing, I love it.4 -0 in closeout games on the road.They are the epitome of what a veteran team is.Where, first of all, I guess, Monica, you know better than anybody, half the building

is going to be Nick fans anyway.

So it really is it a road game, but they they have done this nine straight road wins in the playoffs is something no team has ever done.So yeah, this is an all -time great run by an all -time great team.And they went from smoking teams in these games on the road, right?Winning by 51, winning by 30, winning by 40, right?All that stuff.And then they flipped it the other way and said, you know what?

That was easy.Let's try to play from behind double figures and see if we can do this.And in every game being down double figures, every game in this series, in the finals, being down big in the first quarter.And yet they always found a way to climb back into this thing.And if you think that's a party, Wait till Thursday when there's a parade down the Canyon of Heroes here in New York, because it's going to be appropriately insufferable here in New York.

What did Jalen Brunson say?He said the game started at 8 .30, unfortunately against the Spurs.We didn't start the game until 9 .00, 9 .15.

Look at these guys.I mean, it's just fantastic.At some point, after we finish celebrating, I want to know why everything had to be so difficult in the first quarter.Because literally, at least a ten -point hole every single game in this series.Um, but what I would just add of this is I think the numbers bear out what they were able to do statistically.I think history will continue to tell what they were able to do in terms of their character of this group, right?

And that starts with Jalen Brunson.I mean, so many of these guys have incredible stories that led to this moment.And we've yet to even talk about Mike Brown coming into a job where this was the expectation.And I think, you know, All of it coming together in the way that it did, there's a number of stories that we can dig into, but truly, it's gonna point back to Brunson's willingness to take on all of the pressure of New York and be sort of that cornerstone that they built around.

The closest thing I've ever seen to this with my own eyes was what it was like in Chicago when the Cubs finally won.Now, their drought was 108 years, but you understand that I think this is, I mean, for most people, the difference between those two things is imperceptible.It doesn't really, at some point, it doesn't really matter if it was 53, three years.or 108 years.There was just that that release of a celebration that was for generations of families to get together and say I never got a chance to see this.It brings you together with people who are in some cases no longer with you.

It brings you together.And I will also say this very quickly.So I've never really known.And so anytime I've ever pointed out a team that wins a championship that they may have not had the hardest path people who are fans of those teams get mad at me and I've always And we said to them, you know, I feel like if my team won, I wouldn't care.And so now I'll just say this, because there have been people saying, well, they didn't wind up having to play Boston, and they didn't wind up having to play Detroit, and they didn't wind up having to play Oklahoma City.You know what?

I don't give a flying fudge what anybody said.It could not make less difference to me.If anyone wants to try and take anything away from the value or validity of this championship, who gives a damn?The Knicks won the title for the first time in 53 years.I heard my father's voice in my ears as the seconds were counting down.That's what matters.

That's what this is about.Doesn't make a damn bit of difference whether some people want to try and diminish it or not.I just have to ask the awkward question now because I've been waiting all season long to do this.

I love it.When is anybody gonna give James Dolan Jim Dolan any credit today?Cuz I guarantee you nobody's gonna talk about it Everybody's talking about Rick Brunson or or you know, Jalen Brunson and Rick Brunson or Leon Rose?

Good job putting your front office in place.

Yes I'm just curious like, you know, they it takes a certain ounce or personality, but like, you know what, I'm going to remove myself and actually trust in my front office to do that.When we've seen a lot of owners not do that.

Okay.

Okay.Let's see.Awkward.

Going right back to you, Wendy, to try and put that into some perspective.I mean, the old adage in sports has always been build from within and draft and all that kind of stuff.And here, you know, now we sort of live football, sort of in an FM picks kind of a world.And now here's the Knicks putting together this roster, an entirely differentWhat does it mean?

Here's the through line.Jim Dolan said, I need to get an agent to find me players.He hired Leon Rose.That took courage and conviction.Leon Rose is from the South Jersey area, loved the Villanova teams that he watched win championships, recruited those players, signed some of them.He said, I'm going to get some of those Villanova players to win in the NBA, and I'm going to start with Jalen Brunson.

And people are going to say it's favoritism, but I just think he's an undervalued player.I'm going to give him $100 million.Courage and conviction.Jalen Brunson says, I'm going to leave less money on the table.I'm going to leave money on the table to help recreate my Villanova team.He shows incredible leadership, incredible guts, and frankly, unbelievable that he would be willing to basically help pay for this team.

He had some other guys in the front office that helped him with smart moves, and he went out and found players not only that he had represented, that he knew, like Carl Towns and O .G.Ananobi, that other teams didn't want to pay.The Wolves traded Towns because they didn't think he was worth the money.The Raptors traded Ananobi because they didn't think he was worth what he was going to ask in contract.They paid all those picks for Mikael Bridges.

This is vision and courage all coming together with great play.

This story started in 2019, when Kevin Durant said the Knicks weren't cool, and he went to the Brooklyn Nets.And so how do you get cool?You bring in somebody cool.Worldwide West, William Wesley, is in a Jay -Z lyric.How cool is that?Yeah.

Worldwide West, William Wesley, is close with Leon Rose.They come in together, they made the Knicks cool.

Simple as that.And then, Jalen Brunson, by default, makes the Knicks cool, right?Like, I think, it's just so well done.And I think along the way, though, you got to give these players a lot of credit.And Mike Brown.I mean, last year, we sat at this very desk when they made the decision to go away from top to middle.

and we weren't sure where that was gonna go.But I think the buy -in from these guys, like, when you talk to guys that have the opportunity to compete in the finals and win, you cannot say enough about the buy -in.Because there's real world... uh, conversations where you would look at and say, so -and -so can do this or that or the other.Or, frankly, y 'all, it took a minute to kind of get all in on, okay, JB is our guy, because I think people look and are like, oh, well, this guy might be more athletic or this guy shoots better or this guy does whatever, whatever.But the buy -in as a team internally this year is remarkable.

We have the NBA draft coming up in about eight days, and I have a lot of young fellas that always hit me and say, hey, you know, I want to go top ten.I'm like, okay, cool.Where are you going, though?Because where you go matters, right?Skill development, culture matters.The biggest takeaway for me with this team, championship culture.

I'll just give you a dichotomy very quickly.Just think about the lessons that we watched Luka having to go through with LeBron James.And one of the reasons why you're talking about keeping LeBron James there, to teach Luka how to build a championship culture.And look at the likes of Jalen Brunson and how he leads in a championship culture that was established right there.If there's anything on paper, just look at those two scenarios.That's why Jalen Brunson is who Jalen Brunson is.

That's why you're talking about him as the captain.You don't hear people referring to Luka as the captain.It's not slight to Luka.Luka is one of the most talented players in the league.It's just the dichotomy of who they are.

Well, so chemistry, is an often used word and it is largely misunderstood.It's not predictable, but it's easily definable.And I will define it for you very quickly.Jay, if you and I work together and we have no chemistry, then what we produce will be equal to Greeny plus Jay.It's a mathematical equation.If we do have chemistry, then what we produce will be equal to Greeny times Jay.

I make you better and you make me better.You can't usually predict when people are gonna have chemistry, but in this case you could.because they put together three guys from college who love each other, and everyone knew that going in.And so chemistry, the chemistry...important qualities in championship teams are talent and chemistry.Many teams have the talent.

They fall by the wayside if they don't have the chemistry.Parenthetically, I think San Antonio has both and I think they're going to be great.They're just not ready yet.I'm glad the Knicks got their title now.Because I don't think I don't know that anyone beats that team danger over the next couple of years because I think they have both also they just don't have the experience which maybe I should have added as another one of those elements.But the next one this is one of the few places where you could actually foresee the chemistry because we had seen it.

So putting them together in that regard I think was genius.

Yeah of course.And that's the scars that have to be built up.There's that.I do think there are some more chemistry lessons though for the Spurs.There are some issues.that you have to deal with.

Dylan Harper had great first halves and would fizzle out in the second half like a young player might do.Right.And he and the Aaron Fox dynamic.That's something the Spurs are going to have to figure out for sure.But those three guys Harper Castle and Wim Bynjama for a long time are going to terrorize the West.And if you're in Oklahoma City you've got your hands full.

So we'll find out if any moves get made to sort of work their way around that.

It's all right.