History Says Knicks Should Worry, But This Team Might Actually Be Different

The New York Knicks just claimed the Emirates NBA Cup trophy on Tuesday, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 124-113 and pocketing $530,000 per player for their effort. It was a dominant tournament run that capped off what has been an impressive stretch for the defending Eastern Conference champions. Yet as exciting as this achievement is, basketball history whispers a cautionary tale.

The Pattern Nobody Wants to Follow

Look back at the in-season tournament’s brief track record, and a troubling pattern emerges. The 2023 Lakers won the inaugural NBA Cup over the Pacers, only to stumble out in the first round against Denver. The 2024 Bucks then claimed the second edition by beating the Thunder, only to suffer a similar fate—another first-round exit, this time to Indiana.

Here’s where it gets interesting: The teams that didn’t win? They thrived. The Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals the very next season. The Thunder went on to win the entire championship. The runner-up Spurs from this year’s tournament walked away with $212,000 per player—less money, but potentially more momentum heading into the playoffs.

The losing finalists seemed to use the tournament as a springboard, treating it as a learning opportunity rather than a destination. The winners, conversely, peaked early and couldn’t sustain their excellence when the stakes got even higher. It’s the inverse of what you’d expect—the trophy should build confidence, not create complacency.

Why This Knicks Team Breaks the Mold

But before Knicks fans start panicking, consider this: New York entered this tournament from a place of strength, not desperation.

When the Lakers chased the 2023 NBA Cup, they were 14-9 with the 15th-best net rating in the league—they needed the win. The Bucks, sitting at 14-11 with the 14th-best net rating, were in similar straits. Both were aging rosters trying to manufacture chemistry and momentum on the fly.

The Knicks? They arrived at this tournament as the 4th-oldest team by minutes played but with a completely different trajectory. At 18-7, they boast the 4th-best net rating in the entire NBA (1st in the East). They’re ranked 2nd in offensive rating and 11th in defensive rating—numbers that suggest this isn’t a team that needed a trophy to validate their season.

Head coach Mike Brown has weaponized pace, ball movement, and spacing in a way that finally unlocked the Knicks’ offensive potential. Karl-Anthony Towns has been the perfect complement to their system, operating efficiently within the new framework. The Karl Anthony Towns meme crowd can joke all they want, but the data shows he’s been a crucial piece in this well-oiled machine.

The Youth Factor

Perhaps most tellingly, the Knicks got a significant contribution from a youngster—something that separates them from previous winners. Second-year point guard Tyler Kolek stepped into meaningful rotation minutes due to injuries to Landry Shamet and Miles McBride, and he responded with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the Finals. The Knicks were +14 in his 20.5 minutes on the court.

That injection of youth and energy mirrors what made the Pacers and Thunder so dangerous in their postseason runs. The Knicks have the veteran foundation (Towns, Jalen Brunson, and others) combined with emerging talent like Kolek—the best of both worlds.

The Real Question

So will the “NBA Cup Curse” strike again? Conventional wisdom says yes. History suggests the Knicks should stumble in the first round and watch the Spurs make an unexpected deep run. But this New York roster feels fundamentally different than those Lakers and Bucks squads that fell prey to the pattern. They’ve built something sustainable, not something that peaked at the wrong time. If the curse does return, it won’t be because of bad luck—it’ll be because the basketball gods are far more cruel than anyone anticipated.