New York Wins the Title, Brunson Wins Immortality, and Knicks Fans Have a Zihuatanejo Moment With Zach Lowe

The Knicks are NBA champions for the first time in 53 years, and the defining image of their run is Jalen Brunson scoring 45 points in a clinching Game 5 where his co-star, Karl-Anthony Towns, managed two points in 23 minutes because of foul trouble. As Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe broke down late into the night, this was not just a title—it was a coronation of a team built differently, led by a player whose path to immortality defies every NBA convention.

The Team-Building Masterpiece

The Knicks' championship was a triumph of roster construction, a case study in identifying the right archetypes and making bold, uncomfortable moves. Simmons argued this was the best team-building job of the century, pointing to two critical decisions: firing Tom Thibodeau last season and trading for Karl-Anthony Towns. Both were real gambles. But the foundation was laid by two strokes of fortune—Toronto souring on OG Anunoby and Dallas failing to lock down Brunson. From there, Leon Rose and his front office methodically targeted size, selflessness, and defensive tenacity around Brunson. The Josh Hart trade "sneaks under the radar," Simmons noted, but it was the kind of bit-by-bit accumulation that turned a good team into a champion. The Towns trade was the "upside moonshot"—a high-risk move that could have blown up defensively but instead raised the team's ceiling to championship level. Lowe