Congratulations to all of the @nyknicks players on winning an NBA World Championship! A special shoutout to the Knicks starting five: Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart 👏🏾 Btw, Josh is one of the players I drafted in the first round when I was President of the Lakers, and he's one of my favorite players because of how he impacts winning without having to score a point!
Full circle 👏
In 2007, Mike Brown lost the Finals to the Spurs. Nineteen years later, he beats San Antonio to deliver the Knicks their first championship in 53 years 🙌
Congrats Knick Fans .. don't let nobody steal yall joy ... yall been through it all 💙🧡. Yall captain bet on himself and doubled down and brought it home . 🏆
The OGs congratulate OG: Andre Iguodala, Kendrick Perkins, Baron Davis, JR Smith, Gerald Wilkins, Rip Hamilton and Stephon Marbury with OG Anunoby postgame
(Kofi Ofori-Ansah/MSG/Gotham Sports)
Magic Johnson on how special this Knicks team is:
Magic: “I don’t wanna hear no talk about Giannis, or no other player coming to this team. This is a great team. I’ve watched a lot of basketball. The way these guys love each other. Play for each other. Pull for one another. You’re not gonna see this anywhere else. The, grit, the toughness that’s how they beat you. Together.”
Stephen A: “You’re telling me, this team, as presently constructed, you wouldn’t change—”
Magic: “Nope.”
Stephen A: “Even if they don’t win the Finals, no changes?”
Magic: “You keep em together and make small changes. This team knows how to play so well with each other. And off of Brunson. Everybody is comfortable in their role. KAT could start for another team tomorrow. OG can go to another team and be a star. But he’s good to play his role. Bridges too. And Hart, no 2 guard rebounds like Josh Hart. So you’ve got the pieces, and they’re all happy.”
Stephen A: “But—”
Magic: “Now, if you trade for Giannis, how many dudes you gotta give up just to get him? It’s a different team now. The whole team changes.”
Stephen A: “That’s true.”
Magic: “This team. I love this team. I love the Knicks. They play basketball right. Don’t change.”
The Karmelo Anthony verdict shows that the justice system has reverted back to the Jim Crow South era.
It is no longer about evidence.
It is no longer about right or wrong.
It is about keeping racial score through the prosecution and imprisonment of Black people.
It was no surprise that an all white jury would find a 19 year old kid, who was bullied and harassed by two 6’1” bullies, guilty of murder while he was minding his business.
We have seen this story before.
A young Black man is put on trial, and somehow the burden shifts from what happened to him, to why he should not have defended himself.
The facts become secondary.
The optics become everything.
The outcome feels predetermined long before the verdict is read.
People will tell you not to make it about race.
But race has always been part of the story in America.
The hard truth is that many Black people no longer believe they will receive the benefit of the doubt when their freedom is on the line.
And verdicts like this are exactly why.
At some point, we have to stop pretending that everyone is playing by the same set of rules.
Because the people watching this case saw something very different than what that jury claimed to see.
Josh Hart:
"I kind of wish the ticket prices weren't as crazy as they are. I feel like a lot of people who have been waiting for this moment for a very long time unfortunately aren't able to get into the building. The cheapest ticket $7K, $8,000. That's ridiculous"