A change of philosophy, an unlikely star, and a new coach: How the Knicks returned to the NBA Finals
In the heart of Manhattan, between Sixth Avenue and 50th Street, Prince’s song 1999 blared from the speakers of Radio City Music Hall. Hundreds of New York Knicks fans gathered amid the concrete jungle, the noise and neon lights, minutes after their team’s 11th straight playoffs win. Their 130-93 rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers to sweep the Eastern Conference final 4-0 was no ordinary victory. Twenty-seven years later, and for the first time in the 21st century, the Knicks are once again in an NBA Finals. The challenge ahead is enormous: to win the franchise’s first title in more than half a century, the only two championships in its history still frozen in black and white in 1970 and 1973.
