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Larry O’Brien Legends, 2026 Special: The OG gets his chance

Obviously, there are many reasons why the 2026 Knicks will be remembered forever. They ended the Knicks’ 50+ year championship drought, the best playoff point differential ever, the multiple crazy comebacks, Brunson’s closeout game and many more. But I want to shoutout a guy that finally got his chance to leave his mark on the NBA forever after being robbed of that opportunity not long ago. In 2019, OG Anunoby was a valuable role player on the Toronto Raptors. On an all-time great defense, he was one of their best defenders. His offensive game was still unrefined, but his versatility made him valuable. So it was a shame when OG was forced to miss the playoffs because of surgery he needed for acute appendicitis. OG still got a ring (rightfully so), but having to watch the entire run from the sidelines had to sting. The Raptors kept him around after that year in what some called a stubborn attempt to recapture 2019. You can say they held on too long, but recent history tells us they had good reasons to do so. Infamously, the Raptors finally blew up their 2019 core after ending the Pistons’ 28-game losing streak, but they began to cave in late 2022 when they traded OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks. Although this was obviously a brilliant move for the Knicks in hindsight, at the time, there were many skeptics. They focussed on the package. There was belief the combo of Quickley and RJ alone was better than OG. Although that concern existed, the Knicks actually wanted OG for a while. Reports at the time suggest the Knicks had honed in on OG in the previous 2 seasons, but couldn’t get a trade sorted out. They firmly believed OG would work well within their lineup. The question would be if New York could convince him to stay and if he could make the deal worth it. Fast forward to the 2026 playoffs, the Knicks are contenders with some question marks, mainly related to their consistency. OG is a valuable piece with Jalen Brunson as the captain of the ship with KAT appearing to be his 2nd-in-command with OG as the 3rd option and best perimeter defender. Everyone knew he would be important, but I don’t think even Knicks fans grasped how valuable OG was until the Finals. In round 1, the Knicks faced the Hawks. OG’s best game ironically came in a loss as he led the way with 29 points and clutch 3s that were sadly undone by CJ McCollum’s game winner. Fortunately, OG and the Knicks got their shit together and disposed of the Hawks with ease in the next 3 games while OG averaged 23 points per game (only 2 behind Brunson), including a team-leading 22 in the evisceration that was game 6. Round 2 presented the 76ers, a team that looked like a Cinderella story in the making only to have their glass slipper stomped on by the Knicks as they were swept. OG missed a couple games with a hamstring strain but played great in the ones before that. He was 2nd in points per game and particularly excellent in game 2, causing 2019 Raptors head coach Nick Nurse to say it was the best he’d ever seen from OG. Round 3 presented what could’ve been an intriguing matchup between 2 contenders that had some question marks, there was just 1 problem: the Knicks had already answered their questions. New York steamrolled the Cavs in 4. OG ironically had his worst series of the run, only averaging 16 per game, which was 3rd on the Knicks. Luckily, he saved his best for last. If not for Brunson’s excellence, OG had a real chance at winning Finals MVP. On top of his usual defensive excellence that kept San Antonio’s wings in check, OG was up there with Brunson in scoring until game 5 with super good efficiency. Nobody made more 3s than OG Anunoby and nobody was more efficient. You definitely remember his greatest performance, game 4. He helped complete the largest comeback in Finals history with the block on Fox and put-back tip-in heard around the world. What you might forget is OG put up 33 in that game. He and Brunson were the only Knicks with 20+. That comeback does not happen without him. OG was quiet in game 5, but Brunson did more than enough to clinch the championship. As a whole, OG finished the 2026 playoffs with averages of 20 points (2nd best on the Knicks), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block. He is just the 59th player since the NBA-ABA merger to average 20, 1 steal and 1 block in a playoff run with at least 15 games). If we make it 1.5 steals, he becomes 1 of 33. That may not sound super impressive on the surface, but let’s combine those numbers with OG’s efficiency. Out of the 59 playoff runs with those numbers, OG has the 4th best 2-point %, the best 3-point % and the 8th best free throw %. All that combines to give OG the best true shooting (72.1%), far better than anyone else. No matter how you look at it, OG had an elite playoff run, one that he never got to have back in 2019. Good things come to those that wait. It took longer than OG likely wanted, but he finally got to become a Larry O’Brien Legend.

Knicks

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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 16: New York’s First Favourite Little Guy

Obviously New York City has a new favourite little guy (in NBA terms). Jalen Brunson catapulted from an overpaid free agent signing to a top 5 player while leading the charge to the title. Believe it or not, this is not the first time New York has been skeptical of a small guard, only for that guard to lead them to championship glory. In the 1967 NBA draft, the Knicks selected a little guard from little Southern Illinois, an NIT team, named Walt Frazier with the 5th overall pick . As you can imagine, the pick was heavily criticized. However, it’s important to remember Frazier was not spoiled, far from it. He was living in a trailer with his wife and 2-month-old son. The obligation to provide for his family was likely the reason he even signed with the Knicks despite his loyalty Southern Illinois’s head coach Jack Hartman. That loyalty stems from the fact that Frazier actually missed his junior year because he was academically ineligible, so add that onto the question marks New York already had about him. Still, Frazier showed promise in his rookie year (1967-68) and truly broke out in the very next season. He finished his sophomore year with averages of 18 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. To make it even better, Frazier was named 1st-team all defence with 25 of 28 possible votes. That was the most of any player, more than even Bill Russell. Had DPOY existed at the time, he may have won it. Frazier carried his breakout year into the playoffs as he helped the Knicks win their first playoff series in a decade while boosting his averages to 21, 9 and 7. New York would ultimately lose to the final version of the Bill Russell Celtics. Once they were gone, a power vacuum opened in the east. The Knicks immediately threw themselves into it by winning 60 games in 1969-70. Frazier had a fantastic season. 21, 8 and 6 with the most votes for all-defensive 1st team, all-NBA 1st team and he also finished 4th in MVP voting. The Knicks faced the Baltimore Bullets in round 1. Frazier lost the point guard matchup with Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, who averaged 28 compared to Frazier’s 19. No matter, they won the series in 7. The Knicks faced Kareem and the Bucks in round 2 where Frazier struggled even more. He averaged 10 points on putrid 35% shooting. Luckily, New York won the series in 5, bringing them to their first ever Finals where they faced their biggest challenge. Despite their 46-36 record, the LA Lakers were the best team in the West. They boasted one of the best trios ever. Some guys named Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. They averaged a combined 83 points per game with West as the top scorer of both the team and NBA (31.2 PPG). New York needed Frazier to perform. Through 6 games, Frazier averaged 15 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds while shooting 50%. He mainly acted as a distributor for New York’s scorers, most notably for Willis Reed who had a fantastic series. Unfortunately, tragedy struck in game 5 when Reed suffered a torn thigh muscle, keeping him out for the rest of game 5 and surely the series. Thanks to Frazier and his teammates, New York scrapped out a game 5 win. They had a chance to close it out in game 6, but without Reed in the paint, Wilt Chamberlain put up 45 points and 27 rebounds in a 22-point win, setting them up for a winner-take-all game 7. Walt Frazier couldn’t just be the distributor anymore. He needed to step up. In the biggest game of his life and New York basketball history, Walt Frazier put up 36 points (71% shooting), 19 assists and 7 rebounds as the Knicks won the game by 24 points and claimed their first championship. If you’re an NBA historian like me, you likely know game 7 of the 1970 Finals for a different reason, as this is also the game Willis Reed limped onto the court despite his gruesome injury, scored some points and sat out for the rest of the game. Because of that, this game is known as The Willis Reed Game, which is a shame. Not because Reed doesn’t deserve credit, but because it takes away from Frazier’s incredible performance. Walt Frazier is 1 of just 3 players ever to put up 30 points and 10 assist in game 7 of the NBA finals. The other 2 are Jerry West and James Worthy. Out of the 3, Walt’s performance boasts easily the best efficiency and the most assists. Only 1 other player has accumulated 15 assists in a game 7 and that was Magic Johnson. 36 points is the 6th most scored in a Finals Game 7 ever. If we remove games that went into overtime, it’s 3rd, behind only LeBron James and Jerry West. Even without the game 7 parameter, Frazier is 1 of 2 players ever with a 30-point and 15-assist Finals game (the other is Jerry West, what a shock). It is objectively one of the greatest performance yet history books remember a man who scored 4 points more. Again, not taking anything away from Reed. His arrival galvanized the Knicks. But why can’t we remember when Walt Frazier became a Larry O’Brien Legend too?

@nick

The Comeback Knicks

The New York Knicks set a record by achieving the #1, #3, and #5 largest comebacks in NBA Finals history all in the same 2026 Finals. #1: 29-point comeback in Game 4 They trailed by as many as 29 points (81-52 in the 3rd quarter) before rallying for a 107-106 win on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds left. This shattered the previous Finals record (24 points by the 2008 Celtics). #3 and #5 — These came from other games in the series (e.g., a 16-point deficit in Game 5 and a 14-point one in Game 1, per varying reports), where they also overcame double-digit deficits in all four of their wins.44 The Knicks’ “Comeback Knicks” run featured resilience throughout the playoffs and Finals, culminating in their first title since 1973 (with Jalen Brunson as Finals MVP). This is now one of the most improbable Finals performances ever.

@nick

The Best Postseason Point Differential

The Knicks finished their title run with the best post season point differential in NBA history at +283. Their 3 losses in the playoffs amounted to a difference of 6 total points.