Monica McNutt reflects on the decades-long wait for a Knicks championship

William Brangham:

The city that never sleeps finally saw its dream come true this weekend, when the New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973, vanquishing the San Antonio Spurs in five games.

If you were in New York City on Saturday, you heard it.

(Cheering)

William Brangham:

Thousands of fans on the streets across the country celebrating wildly after the Knicks pulled off this improbable upset in the final seconds.

(Cheering)

William Brangham:

For more on this historic moment and thrilling series, we are joined by Monica McNutt. She was there for game five. She covers the Knicks and is a basketball analyst for ESPN and the MSG Network.

Monica, thank you so much for being here.

Fifty-three years for Knicks fans of droughts and disappointments. I mean, they had been in the Finals three times. The most recently, I think it was '99, where they lost to the Spurs. So this is particularly sweet. What makes this win so significant this time around?

Monica McNutt, ESPN:

Well, William, I think you started with it. How many people have had the opportunity to now witness two victories for this New York Knicks organization?

Fifty-three years, while it is young in spirit, if you were born in '73, right, it is a long time to wait to see your team return back to the mountaintop. And I think that earnest desire to see this team be successful, combined with the fact that New York City, without question, William, is such a basketball town.

It is the sport that truly unifies the city. Yes, there's another team in another part of town, but they weren't originally here. And so most New Yorkers take a lot of pride in the orange and blue. And so I think, when you look at the time that it has taken to return and what this team means to the fabric of the city, it was just a moment of -- serendipity is the word that comes to mind.

Destiny may be a better word. And so you could hear and feel the enthusiasm. It was palpable.

William Brangham:

It was palpable.

I want to play a tiny little bit of video of you watching the last seconds of this game unfold. That look on your face is so wonderful and beautiful. I mean, you're a pro. You kept it together, obviously, to do your job. But I'm just wondering what that was like for you personally.

Monica McNutt:

William, my partner Tyler Murray, my terrific radio partner, he asked me earlier in the day, "If they win, are you going to cry?"

And I'm like:

"No. We're with them all the time. It's not that -- no. It's too much to be excited about it."

And so I will admit that I was very surprised by my own reaction. I have to give a shout-out to a friend of mine, Betty (ph) and her lovely pooch, Kingsley (ph), because we were texting earlier in the day. And so she would share how excited the neighborhoods are and which party was doing this.

And earlier that day, we were texting. And she actually said that it was a love letter to the city, what the team was doing. And I was like, "Betty, I am using that if we win tonight."

(Laughter)

William Brangham:

I heard you say that.

Monica McNutt:

Because that was perfect.

There is nothing like the love letter that an organization has an opportunity to write to its fans and to its cities quite like winning a championship.

Yes, it just -- it captures the exchange, the mutual love for one another from a fan base to an organization. And I think for these fans, as you mentioned, as we started our conversation, many of them waiting 53 years, many of them only having the heartbreak of '99 or '94 -- I had a friend text me that said: "My 10-year-old self was healed in this victory because she vividly remembers watching in '99 and the heartbreak and despair."

And so what a better way -- is there a better way for a sports organization to say I love you to its fan base by doing everything that they can to hoist the Larry O'Brien, as this Knicks team has been able to do?

William Brangham:

How did this Knicks team accomplish getting to the mountaintop, as you said, when so many others, so many others stacked Knicks teams were not able to do this?

They did it on the backs of a guard that many thought was too small and maybe not ready for this. Jalen Brunson, of course, we're talking about how did they do it?

Monica McNutt:

Jalen Brunson is perhaps one of the most unique All-Star point guards and people in the league.

He is very familiar with what he can't do or at least what the scouting reports, what people say. But, William, he was drafted in the second round. His foundation to this day is called the Second Round Foundation.

At every turn, whether it was in high school because he wasn't the most athletic, whether it was in college because he wasn't the most athletic or he was too slow, whether now in the NBA, all he has done is win.

And so there are those among us who just walk with the winning and the clutch DNA and refuse for it to be dimmed by others' speculations. And opinions. And so, when I look at the compilation of this group, you have to tip the cap from owner on down, James Dolan, down to Leon Rose and William Wesley in the front office, the bold decision at the end of last season to let go of a coach that had brought this team as close as they had been since '99 to an opportunity to win the championship.

William Brangham:

Right.

Monica McNutt:

And then the pieces that they built around this team,

I think, when you're a leader and you're a centerpiece, never gets too high, never gets too low, is willing to take less when he's at the negotiation table, with the mind-set of I want to make sure that there's enough to build a team around me, I think it just flows from there.

They understood their roles at the highest level. And as Deuce McBride described it to me, they understood that it was just winning time.

William Brangham:

Such an incredible comeback series this was.

Monica McNutt, great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

Monica McNutt:

Thank you.