By Mallory Mattingly
The starting five of the newest NBA Champions, the New York Knicks, revealed the one rule they have, which helped them to master their on-court chemistry.
On Saturday night, the Knicks pulled off another comeback against the San Antonio Spurs to win the series 4-1 and bring home their first NBA title in 53 years.
While on the TODAY SHOW, the Knicks starting five – Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby – shared how they were able to stick together and pull off some of the biggest comebacks in sports history.
“I think what we found is that we built these past two years of us being together, we built a chemistry, we built a rapport where no matter what was going on in the game, we were going to find a way to turn it around and just kind of pick it up,” Brunson said.
“It’s the way we hold each other accountable, it’s the way we find a way to push each other, no matter what’s the situation,” the point guard continued. “Somebody may be feeling down about something that happened in the game, but it’s on at least one of us to pick that person up. And I feel like the longer we play together, it wasn’t just one person, it was everybody. We always had each other’s back. It made it 10 times more special.”
Related: Knicks Guard Focused on Faith as Team Approaches Eastern Conference Finals
In Game 4 of the finals, the Knicks were down by nearly 30 points but would end up winning that game. Anunoby “tipped in a missed shot with 1.2 seconds remaining. Towns called Anunoby’s tip-in ‘the right hand of God’ in the postgame press conference.”
“At the time, we had to get ready for Game 5, so we couldn’t be too excited about it just because we had to erase it and move on to the next day and get ready for the next game,” Anunoby said of his insane play to secure Game 4. “Now it’s a really cool moment. I love my teammates, I love these guys, I love the fans.”
What made the championship even sweeter for Brunson was the fact that he got to share it with his father, Rick Brunson, who is an assistant coach and former Knicks point guard.
When asked for a post-game interview, Jalen was literally speechless.
“I was just trying to find the right words,” he told TODAY. “I really couldn’t. It was a magical moment. It was honestly something truly special that no matter how I try to explain it, it won’t really grasp how special it was. I’m just happy that obviously I had my teammates with me, my family was there. To be able to do it with my dad as well, it was a really special moment.”
By prioritizing unwavering accountability and a commitment to picking each other up through every hardship, this historic Knicks squad proved that their deep-rooted chemistry was the ultimate factor for their magical, championship-winning season.
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