New Jersey is home to only one major league team bearing the state’s name: the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. While the Garden State lacks its own NBA franchise, our neighbors in New York are having a great basketball season, and we New Jerseyans are here for this historic moment.
The New York Knicks are celebrating their first title win of the NBA Eastern Conference since 1999.
The team faced the San Antonio Spurs in a seven-game series for the 2025-2026 NBA Championship, ultimately securing the title. Blue and orange flooded the New York Tri-State area as millions of fans celebrated the victory and the championship coming back home.
This pairing of the Knicks and Spurs is a rematch of the 1999 championship, which the San Antonio Spurs won. The Spurs took the title after five games (4-1) ultimately winning their first NBA championship ever.
Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs was the MVP of the 1999 NBA Finals, mainly for his 27.4 point scoring average.
The New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson had been the frontrunner to win the 2026 NBA Finals MVP, which he indeed clinched, solidifying his status as a franchise legend. He held the top spot after a stellar performance in games one and two.
Brunson is a point guard in is his eighth season in the NBA, but his fourth season on the Knicks. Throughout the five game series he averaged 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per
game. Across the league he averages 26.0 points and 6.8 assists, ranking 10th and 11th, respectively.
Brunson and his father, Rick Brunson, a Knicks assistant coach, made history as the first father-son duo to reach and win the NBA Finals with the same franchise.
The San Antonio Spurs center and power forward, Victor Wembanyama, commonly known as Wemby, is the MVP of the Western Conference.
Wemby is in his third season in the NBA and on the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.08 blocks per game.
These stats place him high in the NBA ranks; he is first for blocks, fourth for rebounds, and 13th for points. Wemby was named the 2025-26 NBA Defensive
Player of the Year. This absolutely dominating run has to be attributed to his height of 7-foot-4, making him the tallest active player in the NBA and the sixth tallest player in all of NBA history.
Following the victory, New Jersey continues to cheer on the Knicks, celebrating the leadership of
Brunson throughout the series.
This victory marks the team’s first championship since 1973, ending a 53-year drought.
Die-hard fans, including Nico Knickerbocker, have been waiting for this moment. The celebrations have been extensive and well-deserved.