From the Big 3 to the Knicks Five: Why the 2026 Knicks Championship Run Will Never Be Duplicated

🏀 Knicks Unleashed | From the Big 3 to the Knicks Five: Why the 2026 Knicks Championship Run Will Never Be Duplicated

The NBA spent two decades chasing the Big 3 formula. From Miami to Golden State to Boston, the belief was simple: stack elite talent and championships will follow. But the 2026 New York Knicks just shattered that blueprint.

In this episode of Knicks Unleashed, we break down how Jalen Brunson and the Knicks Five created a championship model unlike anything we've seen before. This wasn't a superteam built through free agency. It wasn't a dynasty assembled through player empowerment. It was a complete roster built on depth, toughness, chemistry, defense, and five players capable of carrying the team on any given night.

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Transcript

Finally Soaking In The Title

SPEAKER_00 0:39

As next man still revel in the euphoria of that big championship win. This is Times' New York Knicks unleashed, bringing you the best. And everything New York Knicks related. Oh, the big parade is Thursday, which is Mayana. We have the draft on Tuesday, but you know what? We still need to revel in the win. We need to still just be like, you know what? We 53 fucking years. And I know I'm not beating the dead horse. I'm not I'm not beating the drum on this. I'm not I'm not beating anything on this. That's what she said. But I am gonna say this. As a fan, 35 plus years, if not more, I never thought in my lifetime, and we've talked about this, that I would see this, that I would see this title, that I would see this win. We were so close to the precipice, but we always seemed to just get knocked off the mountain. Humpty Dumpty always fell off the wall. Charles Smith always missed twice under the basket. You had the 4-1 sweep, of course, in 99. Oh, and you also had the pain of last year under Tom Thibodeau and the injuries.

The Continuity Blueprint Behind The Core

SPEAKER_00 1:43

But this this is this is a new era. This is a new team. This is a new franchise. This is a new blueprint. We hear heard for years. You need the big three. You gotta go back to 2010 when we had the big three, which came together, of course, LeBron James, Dwayne, await, and Chris Bosch. But people seem to forget that big three did not win a championship that first year. They keep forgetting that. They reached four consecutive NBA finals and they were two for two because they were a team that was built out of pieces from other parts and other places. This Knicks team, this Nick franchise was built kind of the same way, but built with a continuity. Built with a blueprint that if you take a look at the big three, the I don't think this blueprint can ever be recreated. Where are you going to find three guys who are so close together in Josh Hart, Bridges, and Brunson, who played in college together, who won a national championship in college together. They have that that symbiotic relationship. They are able, they know where each other's gonna be on the court because they've been basically playing with each other not since birth, but for years going back to the Nova Knicks.

Why Towns And OG Complete It

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Then you go out and you take a look at Carl Anthony Towns. I laugh at that Carl Anthony Towns draft because if you go back to it, that was the uh that was the Christoph Prazingis draft. And it was so weird when you check it out because Carl Anthony Towns was the was the was the gem of that draft. No, no doubt, no doubt in my mind. But if you take a look at the players that went in that first round, I remember when the Knicks fans were deciding over D'Angelo Russell and Jamil Oklaford, and we ended up with Christoph Persingis. Remember when Emmanuel Moody was actually a Kick after he was taken seventh overall in that draft? You also had the likes, of course, going on a little bit later and the likes of Devin Booker. But that was not that was not the earth-shattering draft as some have made it out to be. The prize possession was Carl Anthony Towns. Carl Anthony Towns now 11 years in the league, 16, over 16,000 points, over 8,000 rebounds, over two. This is the other thing that gets me over 2,263 assists. D'Angelo Russell has three, who is a point guard who's also played in 11 years, has 3,690 assists. What are you what are you seeing there? But when you brought in the likes of Carl Anthony Towns, he went to the trials and the tribulations, he went through the ups and the downs. You had him at one point in time trying to be a focal point on the offense, and then you kind of figured out, listen, you know what? We need him as a facilitator, we need him at the top of the key. We need him to run at times you need to run the offense through him, not towards him. And then, of course, there's OG Ananobi. The $200 million wing that certain segment of Knicks fans clamored that how could you pay this guy fucking $200 million when you're only paying Brunson $100 plus? You take a look at the way this starting five is built. And and interesting enough, contractually, they're all together through next year. Carl Anthony Towns has a player option of $61 million in 28. So we have one more, I should say 27. So we should we have one more season with these guys together, truly together. You know you're gonna have to end up paying Brunson because Brunson, like I said, Brunson is the ultimate team player for the Knicks. What'd you do? I'm just gonna take less people extolled the virtues of Carmelo Anthony for taking a few million less. When in some regards, potentially Brunson took 90 million less. It's it's the team that is there is this isn't there's this starting five, there is no selfishness in the starting five. That's why this will never be recreated. Where are you gonna thrive find three defensive wings who know their roles, who can play three and D? Where are you gonna find a center who can dominate a game when necessary, but still be the facilitator at the top of the basket? And when are you going to find a 1A guard of Brunson statured who can do the things that he does? You can't. This cannot be recreated.

The Real History Of Superteams

SPEAKER_00 6:17

I have to laugh though, because everyone thinks that uh they call used in Miami, they called them the Heatles. That was back in 2010. I just laugh because everyone thinks, well, that that was the advent of the big three. Now, the Knicks at one point in time had their own big three, of course, with Tyson Chandler, Carl, Carl Anthony. Excuse me, Carl Anthony. Carmelo, I had a sneeze there, Carmelo Anthony and Amari Stadabater, out of 50 plus 54 wins, you know, but we all know what the success was in the playoffs. But they always say the super team was invented in 2010. Well, technically it was invented in 2007. People forget the Boston Celtics with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. Danny Ainge traded multiple assets to Seattle for Ray Allen, which convinced Kevin Garnett to waive his no trade and leave Minnesota for Boston. Yeah, they only had one championship in 2008, but they did make two series finals. You go back even a little further, you had Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Amano Gianata Noboli. Four-time NBA champion. You go back a little bit further to the three-peat, the second three-peat with Jordan Pippen and Rodman. Now, people, some people will say, well, uh, you had Michael Jordan. Well, hell yeah, you're fucked right. People forget this also was defined in the 80s. We had the trio of Magic Johnson, Kareem Odul Jabbar, and James Worthy. I know people talk about how free agency was different then and it was easier to keep teams to get super teams together, but you always have to find three stars that are willing to play together, and you also have to find those pre-stars that are willing to sacrifice. I think that the points in time, the ultimate sacrifice for the original true blueprint of the big three, you gotta go back to 81. You gotta go back to Bird, McHale, and Parrish. Bird was drafted in 78 and 80. What did he do? He he got the um uh what did he do? It wasn't 80. Oh, yeah, he traded for Parish and 80 and used the draft pick on McHale. I should got acquired for Parish and 80. The group basically defined an era. They won national championships, excuse me, and NBA championships in 81, 84, and 86, and made five final appearances. So let's, you know, here's another example of LeBron not being the GOAT. Fuck you, LeBron. The true goat was the three-piece, but the original blueprint for the traditional, organically grown, we'll call it, team leading up to this Nick team was the Boston Celtics.

Keeping The Nucleus And Coaching Lessons

SPEAKER_00 8:53

The big question is gonna be: can we keep the core nucleus together? Tom Thibodeau at times did us a disservice last year. It was his inability to experiment, it was his inability to use the bench, and then he would use the bench at the most inopportune times. I've talked about it before. Tom Thibodeau had cataracts the first 82 games of the season and most of the playoffs, where he would look down the bench and go, I can't see anything past the top six guys. Then all of a sudden, he must have had LASIK in that one series, which we're not going to talk about. Where all of a sudden he looked down at the bottom of the bench and said, Oh shit, there's seven more guys down there. I should play them. Well, that didn't work out well. Mike Brown was the ultimate adjuster. We've talked about how at one point in time during the Knicks 29, the historic 29-point comeback, he had Brunson and Jose Alvarado in the backcourt together. He had not played that dynamic duo in the backdoor together the entire season. And what happens? Boom, he puts him in. You see how that's facilitated into a 29-point comeback. That's why this team, this is why this, there's no blueprint for this team. NBA, like the NFL and Major League Baseball, is always a copycat league. You're gonna sit there and say, you know what we need to do? We we need to follow the blueprint of the Knicks. It's it's not follow. You're gonna have to go back into college, find three guys to play together. Maybe the Fab Five in their late 50s, maybe they're available. You're gonna have to f you're gonna have to find athletic 3 and D guys. You're gonna have to find a non-traditional star in OG Ananobi. Now Giannanobi's not a not a star, but I think he's just below that level. But you're gonna have to find a non-traditional player who does everything well, but nothing great, who at times can turn on the Jets and be that person that can carry the team. And that's the thing. It's the same thing with Hart, it's the same thing with Bridges, it's the same thing with Carl Anthony Towns. These are three guys or four guys that at any point in time can carry the Knicks for a spurt in a game or for a few games in a row, if not more than that. You're gonna have to find that. You're gonna have to find a team that cohesively gels together like they did. Who, you know, I always you gotta hearken back to the 86 Mets a little bit. The 86 Mets, of course, were a one-hit wonder. They should have had that day. I'm not gonna talk about 88, but they were a team that even though they had their differences, they came together on the field. The problem is not even the problem, the thing is with this Nick, this 2006 Knicks team is they came together on the court, they came together off the court, and it's a blueprint that'll never be matched.

Parade Plans Draft Preview And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 11:42

We got the big parade on Thursday down the Canyon of Heroes, so make sure you stay tuned for that. We're gonna try to get our asses out there. We just gotta try to figure out some things logistically. We're gonna be trying to do at least two pods a week. We have the draft coming up on Tuesday, so we're gonna do a draft preview on probably on Friday, the day after the Canyon of the Heroes. So again, this is Tim. Make sure you like, make sure you subscribe, make sure you set your notifications to all. Make sure you you, if you're following us on the podcast format, make sure you leave us just a nice comment or give us a five-star review. It helps the channel out. It's been a lot of fun doing it this year, and this is Tim. This is New York Knicks Unleashed, and I'm out of here.