Ring night. I’ve dreamed about it since I first got a microphone. On Tuesday, at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks received their championship rings and raised the 2026 banner. Then they lost the season opener, 106-100, to Philadelphia.
Let me run the announcement again, my way, Saturday at half past eight. Lights out, well, half of them, because of the caretaker. “Mesdames et messieurs, dames en heren, your champions…” Two seconds of silence. [jingle] The banner goes up, hauled by the club president’s nephew in the dinosaur costume. Make some noise!
And then, across the floor, our guests tonight. A starting five that announces itself: LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe. I take a breath at every name, and the sound system, which has opinions, cuts out at the third.
The real moment came later. End of the third quarter, 11-0 to Philadelphia, and Jaylen Brown hits a shot at the buzzer. That is a moment, whoever scores it. The Knicks led fifty-eight to fifty-four at the break. Afterwards, coach Mike Brown said they had looked like they had their feet in the mud.
The jingle doesn’t fit in my column. The buzzer does.
Jalen Brunson told BasketNews it was good for them to be knocked down off the mountain and to put their egos in check. I’m taking away a scheduling lesson: a party before the game is a risk. Me, I’d always keep a bit of jingle for the end. Friday it’s Boston. Just saying.
It’s true, we checked: BasketNews.
