A Championship Moment, Years in the Making
WRITTEN BY JOSHUA HERON
Possible excitement. Maybe nerves. But definitely gratitude.
“When you actually get the ring and you see the banner, it’s definitely gonna hit a certain way,” Houston said. “I don’t really know what to expect. I’m just at a point where I’m just grateful.”
The Knicks will receive their championship rings Tuesday ahead of a season-opening matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. New York won its first NBA title in 53 years in June.
For a brief time on the first night of this season, New York’s favorite team can reminisce with gladness about what they accomplished. Then it’s game time. Or as Houston called it, the start of a “new chase.”
The Knicks alone attract a target. New York with a chip? Another
“level of intensity.” But Houston believes the Knicks possess the values needed to succeed. Chemistry. Camaraderie. Connection. Sacrifice.
“All the FISLL principles,” he said. “All the things that lead to winning.”
The Knicks and Legacy
Before this season, New York last made the NBA Finals in 1999. Houston, garbed in his No. 20 jersey, helped lead the eighth-seeded Knicks to a championship bout against the San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks lost in five games. Twenty-seven years later, they won in five games. Against the same team.
“The interpretation I’m getting used to is people are like, ‘You helped lay the foundation for this,’” Houston said. “There are a lot of former Knicks who poured their blood, sweat, and tears out and didn’t get the result. For us to be able to walk with them through that was really special.”
Allan Houston is still getting used to being called an NBA champion. Though he didn’t play, he had a part. For every chapel service, Houston, merely an unworthy vessel, reminded these men to believe, compete with effort, lay down their lives, hold each other accountable and play for someone bigger than themselves.
He reminded them to FISLL.
“You recognize how much the Knicks mean to people, but when you see the parade, the reaction as we kept advancing, you’re like, ‘Wow!” Houston said. “I knew it meant a lot, but I didn’t know it meant that much. The fact that what you do, and what you did, means that much to people is really special.
“That’s why with FISLL, it doesn’t matter what level, where you go, you’re impacting somebody, but you don’t even realize how much you’re impacting somebody.”
You often don’t see the fruit of the seeds you plant right away. Nonetheless, the toil must continue. Because there’s no Game 5 win without a 16-point comeback.