rewrite this title What the Knicks’ Championship Means to New York

Fans love the Knicks, but especially these Knicks. New York’s starters form a cohesive five. Three of them, Brunson, Hart, and Mikal Bridges, went to the same college, Villanova, Pope Leo’s alma mater, where Hart won an NCAA title and Brunson and Bridges won two. “My mayor’s still Muslim!” a fan shouted after the Game 4 win. “My bagel’s still Jewish! The Pope’s on our side, Knicks in five!!!” Brunson, the series MVP who scored 45 points in the clincher, and Hart have taken their buddy act to a podcast, Roommates Show, where they talk shop and needle each other. Brunson, whose father Rick was on the Knicks during their 1999 Finals run and is now an assistant coach with the team, is a stand-in for the outer-borough striver, underestimated at first glance, but blessed with moxie. The second-team All-NBA player is not particularly fast or athletic—how does he dribble, dribble, go one way, spin the other way, take a ridiculous fadeaway at an awful angle, and sink it anyhow? Towns, imported from Minnesota, via trade, before the 2024-2025 season, has lived up to his elite rep: his shotmaking early in the series and effort to stop Wembanyama—fans have given KAT flack for his D—were crucial. He’s also the local, a Knicks fan from central New Jersey, striving to raise a trophy for his late mother, who passed away of COVID complications in 2020, and hugging his dad, a regular presence at both home and away games.