Mike Lupica: The Knicks, all of them, are the face of the NBA

There was so much conversation, a ton of conversation, really, during these NBA playoffs and especially during the Finals about Victor Wembanyama not just being “The Alien” because of his size and skill set, but the new face of the NBA. Only he’s not the face of the NBA right now, nor is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, even after winning a second MVP award in a row if not another title. Nor is LeBron on his way out the door. The face of the NBA right now is the Knicks, and not just Jalen Brunson, even if he is now as big a star as there is in the sport, and as much an MVP as there is in the sport. It is all of them playing the game exactly right, same as it was the last time the Knicks won a title before this one, with Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe and Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley and the big man, Capt. Willis Reed. It is Brunson, and the new big man, Karl-Anthony Towns, who really was such an indispensable part of it all. And OG Anunoby, who came flying in to make a tip at the end of Game 4 against the Spurs, a moment now as famous as those two jumpers Reed made to start Game 7 back in 1970. That was before Clyde Frazier seemed to be everywhere that night, the way Brunson was everywhere at the end of Game 5 last Saturday night. It is them and it’s the Glue Guy, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges. It is a cohesive starting five that absolutely goes in with the one that included five future Hall of Famers back in 1973. And there is Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet coming off the bench, whether the two of them will be around next season or not. And Jose Alvarado, a city kid. And throw in Deuce McBride, one of the most likeable gunners the Knicks have had lately. It is all of them, truly playing the game over these last two months the way it is meant to be played, all of them making sacrifices until it was time for Brunson to call for the ball in the fourth quarter of Game 5 and put them on his back one last time and carry them across the line, as if willing to carry them all the way back to the city for the parade. When it mattered the most, when the Knicks grabbed this chance for another title and ran with it the way they did — running away from the competition as they won 15 of their last 16 games — there was no ego with them the way there was no ego with the old Knicks. They were all willing to make sacrifices, even with Brunson taking one star turn after another. Towns, in particular, reminded everybody just how much game he’s always had after Mike Brown gave him the ball when the Knicks were down two games to one against the Hawks. That is where the ride that finally ended up at City Hall on Thursday afternoon really began. It was Towns’ turn to step forward. Bridges did the same in Game 6, the closeout game against the Hawks, shooting 10-for-12 after having almost disappeared earlier in the series. There was Game 1 against the Spurs when Hart was the best player on the court while scoring just three points. Hart had 15 rebounds that night, more than Wembanyama or anybody. He had six assists. More than anybody out there. And four steals that were also more than anybody else had in that game. More than any of them, Hart elevated unselfishness to an art form. Does it sometimes look like they’re all part of the chorus when Brunson is dominating the ball? Of course it does. But this is still a team that has an understanding of team ball the way the old Knicks did, when they were all about finding “The Open Man,” which became the title of a pretty wonderful book written by DeBusschere. They were all willing to do what needed to be done on a given night, and at both ends of the court. That was the spirit of it all, as they did channel the spirit of the old Knicks, game after game after game. Here is something DeBusschere wrote in his book over 50 years ago: “We’re all battlers on the Knicks. We’re a balanced, versatile, unselfish ball club — a team, not a collection of individuals. I want to show in this (book) what it’s like to be a member of that team. … And most of all, I want to show what it’s like to be a champion.” Here is what Earl Monroe said to me about his Knicks and these Knicks on Friday: “We all realized that you had to trust the person next to you. It had to be one for all, and all for one. Bill (Bradley) and Walt and I were out with our wives not long ago, and talking about how these Knicks had come together. It was like they suddenly saw the light, at the exact right time, and they all said, ‘This is how we need to play. This is how we’re going to win.’ And once they did that, they were unstoppable.” Sometimes they would get ahead by what felt like a thousand points on their way to winning the game. But then the deeper they went into the postseason, that wasn’t always the story, because then the comebacks were. They came from 22 points behind, did that in the last eight minutes of Game 1, against the Cavaliers. And then there was a comeback for the ages, Game 4 against the Spurs on the night when it looked as if the Spurs were going to even the NBA finals. They got ahead 29 that night. But the Knicks came all the way back, finally winning it on OG’s thrilling putback, ending the greatest comeback the NBA Finals had ever seen. It was thought that there would never be a Knicks team that touched the heart of the city the way the old Knicks did. But then these Knicks became this kind of team, starting the last week of April. They started playing the shutdown defense that Red Holzman’s “see the ball” Knicks did when the Garden was screaming its collective head off about “DEE-fense.” And when it was time for them to actually stop sharing the ball out of necessity, down the stretch and down to the wire in Game 5, they just threw Brunson the ball the way the Bulls used to throw it to Michael Jordan. “This is our city. This is our team,” Mayor Mamdani said in his rousing, brilliant speech at City Hall. The city won because these Knicks won the way they did. Not just one of them. All of them. When I told Earl Monroe they were the real face of the NBA now, he laughed. “I recognize that face,” he said. IT’S NOT ALWAYS IN THE DETAILS, SHINNECOCK TAKES TOP PRIZE & ROOTING FOR CUP RUN FOR USA … I’m frankly not as interested in whether or not Jazz Chisholm wears a cup as everybody else seems to be. But then, I didn’t find news about Jalen Brunson’s breakfast-sandwich order all that riveting, either. Whether No. 11 wears boxers or briefs can’t be far behind. You really can’t overstate just how great the mayor’s speech was on Thursday. About the team, about the city, about the whole damn thing. Josh Hart being related to a gent like the late Elston Howard makes his story even better. Such a cool thing for NBC Sports to have both Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie back working this Open at Shinnecock Hills. You can say this again: There isn’t a better championship golf course in American than Shinnecock Hills. Not Pinehurst or Oakmont or Winged Foot. They’re all just fighting it out for the silver medal. Something else you can say again about golf? There’s no better postgame show on television than “Live From” on Golf Channel with Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, Paul McGinley. It’s only been a couple of doubles matches so far from Serena Williams, but if you didn’t know what year it was with her, I’m not sure you’d know what year it is. I just hope I get to see her and Venus play doubles again at Wimbledon when I’m back there the week after next. Cody Bellinger is quietly having a terrific season for the Yankees. He hasn’t been quiet at all. I’m still glad he got to take the ride. And you know something? I’m glad Spike got to take that ride, too. Another win for the U.S. men’s team on Friday in Seattle, this time 2-0 over Australia. Folarin Balogun puts one in front of the goalkeeper and an Aussie, Cameron Burgess, inadvertently puts it in the net, and it’s 1-0. Then Alex Freeman, the son of a great old Packer wide receiver named Antonio Freeman (12 TD catches one season, 14 another) makes it 2-0, and that’s the way it ends. And maybe, just maybe, this really is the beginning of a World Cup run for this country, a real one, for which we’ve been waiting. Boy, is that the way to root. If we can declare victory in Iran, can’t the Spurs do the same? Gee, what a shocker that one of those UFC guys at the White House sounded like the mayor of Stupidville. I’m starting to worry that James Dolan has gotten so chatty he might be in danger of violating his own media policy.