Knicks stars Jalen Brunson, Karl Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby talk NBA Championship win: 'Once in a lifetime event'
The Knicks have returned to New York from San Antonio, where their Game 5 victory on Saturday won them their first NBA Championship in 53 years.
"I don't think it's sunk in yet," said Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, one of the starting five stars of the team -- along with Karl Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart -- who joined "Good Morning America" on Monday morning.
Brunson said he placed a towel over his head after the winning moment to let it all out because he knew "that face was probably going to look crazy on TV."
"It was honestly, like a lifetime -- that's what it felt like," he said of the buildup to the winning moment. "The best part about it is knowing that these guys had my back night in and night out -- made that moment ten times more special."
Towns said the win shared with dozens of former Knicks and NBA legends, was "a culmination of work coming together at the right moment, at the right time."
"Not only the alumni but [for] the fans, this was healing," Towns said of the 27-year gap since the last Finals run in 1999. "This is really a once-in-a-lifetime event, you're watching in New York sports history."
"You're talking about a whole generation that's passed being told about the stories of how great the Knicks are, but not actually seeing that trophy be raised," Towns continued. "You get to see history show itself and be able to see it with your own eyes that the Knicks are, again, world champions."
Towns said Knicks head coach Mike Brown, in his first season with the franchise, has "been great" at bringing the veteran team together and trusting their experience and understanding their "intellectual capital."
"What he's been awesome at doing too is listening to us and just hearing us out and adjusting the game plan as needed," Towns said. "After Game 3, his ability to adjust our team offensively and defensively to bring out the best of us, speaks volumes to him as a coach working on the fly and also just hearing his players out."
Rick Brunson, an assistant coach for the Knicks and the father of the star point guard, played for eight NBA teams, including the Knicks, but never won the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.
"It's really special to be able to -- share that moment with him," Jalen Brunson told "GMA," adding that "him being a journeyman in the NBA, I never really got to be around him consistently," so the last four years has been the most consistent "I've been able to be around my dad -- made the moment 10 times more special."
Anunoby had a career-defining tip-in off a missed shot from Brunson to win Game 4 107-106 in the last seconds, which Brown called the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball, but the star forward said he couldn't be too excited or dwell on it because he "had to prepare" for the next game.
"I was trying to dunk it -- but couldn't," Anunoby said, "so I just tried to, you know, touch it and make the shot."
Towns was raised in New Jersey by his father, Karl Sr., and mother, Jackie, who died from complications with COVID-19 in 2020, and said her love has stayed with him on and off the court.
"To be raised by a strong woman is such an honor. And to understand the value of women in my life and in the world -- comes from her," he said. "Her impact in my life -- can't be outmatched and her ability to show me the word love at its purest sense is the most important thing I've ever seen."
Towns hailed another important woman, his fiancee Jordyn Woods, who went viral for a good-luck inducing clutch.
"That bag is undoubtedly, probably one of the greatest articles of clothing that New York has ever seen," Towns said. "It's had a run for sure, undefeated in the playoffs -- New York has a lot to thank her for."
