Patrick Ewing shares emotional reaction to Knicks title as he recalls Tim Duncan
· Yahoo Sports
The New York Knicks’ championship win over the San Antonio Spurs carried added significance because of the history between the two teams.
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The Knicks sealed the 2026 NBA Finals with a 94-90 victory in Game 5, closing out a 4-1 series win. It was the same margin by which San Antonio beat New York back in 1999, a painful chapter in Knicks history.
For Patrick Ewing, who represented that 1999 team, this one meant even more than the end of the 53-year title drought. It also carried a hint of revenge.
Patrick Ewing remembers Tim Duncan and David Robinson after Knicks win NBA title
Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesEwing told ClutchPoints reporter Hector Ledesma on Saturday night: “It has been a long time coming. The last time we were here in 1999, I had tears of sorrow. Today I have tears of joy. You know, it’s a dream come true.
“We have had this goal, I mean, myself as a player, myself as part of the organization, we’ve had the dream of getting to this point and winning the championship and we finally achieved it. The last time we were here, Tim [Duncan] and David [Robinson] were having a party against us, but tonight is ours.”
He then added: “It definitely makes up for it [the 1999 final]. You know, they got us back then and we’re able to get them now.”
The moment also plays into a larger Knicks legacy debate. Jalen Brunson’s title run and Finals MVP have pushed him into the conversation about the franchise’s greatest player.
His father Rick Brunson, however, has not moved away from Ewing. Asked about the debate, he said he loved his son but still viewed ‘Pat’ as the greatest Knick he had witnessed.
Brunson delivered the title, but Ewing remains the emotional bridge between New York’s old heartbreak and its new glory.
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