On October 11, 1980, the Knicks beat Milwaukee 114-109, one result inside a stretch that made the playoffs six times in the 1980s and never got back to a Finals. That wait, dating to the 1973 championship, ran 53 years until this June, when Brunson, Hart, Anunoby, Bridges and Towns finally delivered another one.
On This Date
October 11, 1980: the Knicks beat the Bucks, 114-109. It sat inside a decade that made the playoffs six times and never got back to a Finals — the long middle of a wait that started in 1973 and didn't end until this June.
Rock Bottom
That wait traced back further. Joe Lapchick took the Knicks to three straight Finals from 1951 to 1953, losing to the Rochester Royals, then twice to the Minneapolis Lakers. After he resigned in 1956, the team made the playoffs once in a decade, and on March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points on them in a 169-147 Philadelphia win — the low point before everything turned.
The Turn
Willis Reed's 1964 arrival and Red Holzman's hire during the 1967-68 season built the teams that won it all in 1970 and 1973, with Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Barnett and Phil Jackson. Patrick Ewing's Finals runs in 1994 and 1999 came up short. The drought ran 53 years before Brunson, Hart, Anunoby, Bridges and Towns beat San Antonio in five Finals games this June, Brunson named Finals MVP.
Paying For It
A champion costs money, and New York is feeling it: payroll sits at $227.7 million, above the $200.4 million tax threshold and the hardest spending line the league has. Towns ($57.1M), Anunoby ($42.5M), Brunson ($37.7M), Bridges ($33.5M) and Hart ($20.9M) make up most of that bill. On October 9, New York paused all extension talks, covering Towns and Miles McBride both. Towns called himself very disappointed, per James L. Edwards; Hart reacted the next day, with no detail yet on what he said.
Bottom Line
This roster already proved it can win the thing the 1980s teams never reached. The preseason record says nothing — 0-0, with two exhibition losses — but tomorrow's game against a Minnesota team four games into a road trip and resting several regulars is one more look at a group still waiting to hear what New York decides to pay for a repeat.
Did the Knicks win the NBA championship in 2026?
Yes. New York beat San Antonio in five Finals games this June, with Jalen Brunson winning Finals MVP, ending a title drought that dated back to 1973.
Why did the Knicks pause extension talks with Karl-Anthony Towns?
The team announced on October 9 it was pausing all extension negotiations, which covered both Towns and Miles McBride. No reason beyond the pause itself has been reported.
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