For the first time in 53 years, the New York Knicks are NBA champions. If you’re tempted to stop reading right there, please hear me out.  

Let’s back up. My 9-year-old self would have been over the moon watching the Knicks clinch the title on Saturday night in San Antonio. As a kid growing up in the 1990s — the heyday of the league, as far as I’m concerned — I was a committed Knicks fan. I wore a blue and orange Knicks ball cap everywhere. I rooted for Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, and Charlie Ward.  Those squads made some deep playoff runs, but always fell short. It was a thrilling, if frustrating, era.