It had been 19,392 days since the New York Knicks last stood atop the basketball world.

For most, those years are now preserved more in basketball lore than in living memory. Fifty-three years is long enough for memories to become stories, and stories to become inheritance. Entire generations of fans have lived and died without ever experiencing the joy this magical season would ultimately bring.

This one was for them.

Shout out to you, DOOM (and, of course, KAT’s mom).

For many of us, 1973 was before our time. It was something we were told about. We borrowed the stories from sports historians and grainy film footage, much in the same way we borrowed traditions and lessons from our parents and grandparents. Being a Knicks fan has always been less about winning than inheritance.

We inherit the joy. We inherit the heartbreak. We inherit the expectation that maybe, somehow, this season will be different. Every October becomes an act of faith.

Throughout the years, there was always something to believe in. Patrick Ewing and those bruising teams of the 1990s, the near immortality of 1994, and the miracle run of 1999 kept hope alive. Yet for every memory that sustained Knicks fans, another haunted them.

Hope, Knicks fans learned, had a cruel twin.

That belief returned in the form of Carmelo Anthony and the improbable rise of Linsanity. The 54-win season of 2012-13 gave fans something they had not experienced since Patrick Ewing. But another painful loss to Indiana marked the beginning of an eight-year playoff drought.

Then came Julius Randle and Tom Thibodeau. Neither arrival was celebrated, but together they resurrected Knicks basketball and returned meaningful games to the Garden. It wasn’t a championship, but after years spent wandering through irrelevance, it felt like one.

New York still yearned for its savior, and in the summer of 2022 an improbable candidate appeared. His name was Jalen Brunson. The signing was met with far more skepticism than celebration. Critics questioned the contract, mocked the price, and one talking head famously labeled the Knicks’ pursuit of Brunson “the saddest sweepstakes ever.”

From 2000 to 2022, the Knicks had trotted out twenty-two different opening-night starting point guards. To many, Brunson was simply the latest answer to a question the franchise had been asking for two decades.

But not once did Brunson entertain the doubters. As he settled into his first season in New York, Leon Rose acquired Brunson’s best friend and Villanova teammate, Josh Hart, at the trade deadline. The move paid immediate dividends. New York celebrated its first playoff series victory in a decade before ultimately falling to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Determined to build upon that foundation, Rose reunited Brunson with another Villanova teammate in Donte DiVincenzo before adding OG Anunoby during the season. The Knicks recorded their first 50-win season since 2012-13 and returned to the playoffs with expectations beginning to replace hope. But old ghosts have a way of lingering, and waiting at the end of the road were the Indiana Pacers, who once again reminded Knicks fans that suffering rarely leaves quietly.

Yet something about this disappointment felt different. Previous heartbreaks had carried a sense of finality. This one felt like unfinished business.

The summer of 2024 brought renewed purpose. Leon Rose completed the Villanova reunion by trading for Mikal Bridges before making the difficult decision to send Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. Expectations had changed. For the first time in generations, Knicks fans entered a season expecting to compete for a championship.

And for the first time in twenty-five years, New York reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Each year, the Knicks seemed to move one step closer to their ultimate goal. But fate intervened once again, as the Indiana Pacers denied New York a return to the NBA Finals.

Even the dismissal of Tom Thibodeau reflected that reality. For many fans, the move felt harsh. Thibodeau had resurrected Knicks basketball and restored pride to Madison Square Garden. But championship windows are unforgiving, and sometimes the men who rebuild the foundation are not the same men who finish the house.

What followed was the culmination of everything that had come before.

The Knicks dominated the Eastern Conference playoffs, though many around the league still refused to believe what they were seeing. Critics questioned the strength of the conference and even New York’s dominance despite the largest point differential through thirteen playoff games. Even after falling behind in the Conference Finals, Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson remarked that according to analytics, Cleveland was winning the series, on paper.

Josh Hart had perhaps said it best when it came to analytics.

“I’m never a huge analytics guy. At a certain point, they’re a lamppost to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but they won’t get you home.”

Then came San Antonio.

Twenty-seven years after Tim Duncan and David Robinson denied the Knicks immortality, another Spurs team stood between New York and history. On paper, the matchup favored San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama represented the future of the league. The Spurs possessed the league’s top-ranked defense and the pedigree of a franchise that had spent decades defining excellence. Many believed the Knicks’ run would finally come to an end.

The arguments sounded familiar.

And just as they had all season, the Knicks ignored the noise and let the basketball do the talking.

Five games later, fifty-three years of waiting finally came to an end.

The New York Knicks were champions once again.

Asked about the criticism that had followed him throughout his rise, Brunson remarked that he had not responded to his doubters then and certainly wasn’t about to start now.

The championship had already done what generations of fans had dreamed about for more than half a century. But the parade meant something different.

It was a celebration fifty-three years in the making. Grandparents stood beside grandchildren. Fans who remembered 1973 stood beside those who had only inherited stories of it. Complete strangers embraced because no explanation was necessary.

The parade was not simply a celebration of basketball. It was a celebration of endurance, proof that waiting itself has meaning.

Yet as I watched from Oakland, California, I found myself caught between joy and longing. There is a particular kind of grief reserved for the moments you have imagined your entire life. Not grief born from loss, but from absence.

There was joy for a city finally receiving the celebration it deserved. There was also longing for a moment I had imagined for so many years.

Some imagined futures stay with us so long that they begin to feel like memories. Missing this one will always ache a little.

But love has never required proximity. Though my relationship with the team was forged in New York, moving to the Bay made me realize it was never about geography. It was built on years of watching, hoping, defending, believing, and returning.

After 19,392 days, New York finally believed correctly.

I’ll see you at the Garden for ring night.

It’s New York or nowhere.

Forever.

🧡💙

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ANYWAY. The basketball world is pregnant with anticipation (gross) of the upcoming NBA Finals series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. Coming off of a game seven between OKC and the Spurs, men’s basketball kinda doesn’t get any better than this. It almost makes up for the fact that the season is so long that it is overlapping with WNBA games, making it impossible to watch both, and even more impossible to choose between the two. That beings me to a question I wanted to ask our audience:

Go Spurs. Go Knicks. Go basketball!

Speaking Of Go Spurs And Go Knicks…

Because he began the season as a Spurs player and is now on the Knicks’ roster, Jeremy Sochan is eligible to get a ring no matter who wins the NBA Championship. That’s…something! We want to be the first to say congratulations on winning the championship, Jeremy!

My "Courtside Baddie" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt

Get her now! If you’re real like that.

New Episode of Pickup: Knicks Is In Six

Ashtyn is dancing in the streets as NYC finally gets something good! This week, we discuss the NBA Finals matchup, the overcorrection of OKC hate, and the lack of meaning in the word “corny”. We also cover Caitlin Clark’s meltdowns, some NBA paternity drama, and more!

Leave us a review and we just might read it on the pod…

Listen on Spotify

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Fever Reporter’s Credentials Revoked

The Indiana Fever have revoked reporter Scott Agness’ media credentials following Agness’ spreading what the team believed to be “inaccurate and unsubstantiated information” regarding their management of Caitlin Clark’s back injury. Agness covers both the Indiana Pacers and the Fever via Substack. I don’t know…seems a little White House-y of the Fever, no? Side eye dot emoji dot jpg…

Support the cause

Our goal is to keep growing as the ONLY women-owned hoops mag that serves up and provides a platform for the stories of all genders and levels. As such, we need the world to know we exist, and we hope you can help us spread the word. Become a Substack subscriber, listen to our podcast, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, donate to our small business, buy a magazine subscription or merch, and most importantly, tell a friend about us. We can’t thank you enough.

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What’s up kitty cats? We’ve got a quick one for you this week as hoops wind down in the M and wind up in the W.

Congrats to the New York Knickerbockers for making it to the NBA finals. We can’t wait to see if they will match up against the San Antonio Spurriffics or the Oklahoma City Thunderellas.

Also, congrats to Paige Bueckers, who had her technical foul and $500 fine rescinded by the league. She was assisted by teammate Alysha Clark, who had a bet with Bueckers that she wouldn’t get a technical foul this season. Said Clark, “If I'm going to win money out of her I want it to be legit. I want to be able to sleep at night. I don't want that it's not deserving to get her money." So true, Alysha.

Rigged For Money Or Ratings Not Sure Which

While I was busy watching the sorriest excuse for basketball in recent memory (Cavs/Knicks Game 4) the rest of the flagrant group chat was losing their mind about the WNBA.

I never really know what those hens are clucking about, but it seems the reffing situation in the W has gotten so bad it is now impacting MY life, and therefore I can no longer stand for it.

There’s nothing new or fresh about the ref discourse, and yet here we are having the same conversations again. I have long been on the record that thew WNBA cannot get out of it’s own way, but even still, the referee debacle this season feels outsized. What’s the solution? I literally don’t know, they don’t pay me to write this newsletter let alone fix a problem that feels endemic to the league. But I have to assume that the cumulative history of human ingenuity has propelled us to this moment in time where a premiere sports league can have competent referees. God willing we find them.

My "Courtside Baddie" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt

Get her now! If you’re real like that.

Y’all Mind If I Plug Our Friend?

If you know Flagrant then you probably already know about our special girl Katie Heindl and her publication Basketball Feelings. This section serves as your reminder that she is once again blessing us with her ‘Exits’ series, chronicling every team eliminated from the playoffs. We simply cannot wax poetic about basketball without honoring the OG feeler herself.

Somethin’ About A Nun Who Loves Hoops

It just makes us happy! And it certainly makes Spurs fans happy when the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco bless their team to a win.

There’s a really fun interview with one of the sisters you can read, and hopefully it makes you smile to think about the beauty of a 100ft tall Frenchman transcending religion to hype up the holy.

No Pod This Week

BUT Alex and Ciara were guests on the very fun Iconic Sonics podcast! We did some WNBA hot takes, tunnel fit rankings, and got bleeped out for saying p***y more than once. Classic us!

Support the cause

Our goal is to keep growing as the ONLY women-owned hoops mag that serves up and provides a platform for the stories of all genders and levels. As such, we need the world to know we exist, and we hope you can help us spread the word. Become a Substack subscriber, listen to our podcast, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, donate to our small business, buy a magazine subscription or merch, and most importantly, tell a friend about us. We can’t thank you enough.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

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If you ask me, the former of the two — this warm period of basketball bliss we find ourselves in — is superior to its fall counterpart. This has a LOT to do with the fact that the WNBA is fun right away while the beginning of the NBA season doesn’t actually exist. (If you ask our EIC Ashtyn, the boy’s don’t really start playing until the new year).

But also, there is an undeniable magic of cosmic alignment between the warming weather, increased sunlight, the promise of a fresh WNBA action, and the high level NBA play we wait all season to see. The buzz is palpable, and I hope you feel it too.

Sometimes the basketball is really good, and we’re savoring it while it is.

Can I Cry For A Sec?

In the year 2000, I attended my first Portland Fire game with my 7th grade basketball team. As a 12 year old, it didn’t really hit me that just by being there, we were supporting a struggling team and league made up of countless talented women who weren’t taken seriously as athletes. I wish I could say that as a young, impressionable girl, I saw myself in them, and wanted to be like them.

But I didn’t.

I saw myself in Damon Stoudamire, Jason Kidd (RIP), and Steve Nash, because we were all point guards. I compared my tallest teammate to Tim Duncan. When someone got mad in a game, they were acting like Rasheed Wallace. When someone got a block, they “pulled a Dikembe”. I wanted to be like Vince Carter. I saw myself and my team in the NBA, because that’s who was on TV. That’s the basketball that networks told us we should watch.

At the Portland Fire home opener on May 9th, I attended as a member of the media ahead of the game along with Flagrant co-founder, Ashtyn Butuso. We listened as former Fire players talked about eating pre-game dinners at the Lloyd Center Mall in their first year, and handing out tickets to people just hoping to fill seats. We went down to the court to watch players warm up, and I looked around at an arena that, an hour before tip off, was already more well-attended than any Fire game I went to as a kid. I watched the player introductions and cried as every single player got a hearty cheer from the crowd. I cried at tip off. I cried at the crowd’s reaction at the first big play made by the Fire. I cried when every line for every food stand was too long for me to wait in, and I realized I should have eaten dinner beforehand.

Twenty six years later, as a woman, I see myself in the WNBA. I know what this league and these women have been through over the last 30 years, and I know why. I know the ways they have been ignored, dismissed, and buried under the NBA, under a patriarchal society. I know that despite their talent, their hard work, and their success over the years, they were playing a game in a world that did not want to see them win, and wasn’t watching when they did. And I know what it took, not just from the players, but from the league, the fans, and the media, to be where they are today.

I see them now, and so does everyone else.

<3 alex

My "Courtside Baddie" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt

Get her now! If you’re real like that.

Kicking Our Feet & Giggling

At Spurs/OKC in the Western Conference Finals. Game 1 was an instant classic of beautiful basketball that we were blessed to see go to 2OT. Watching Wemby play basketball against a team he hates feels like being rewarded by the basketball gods. If not a reward, perhaps the Western Conference matchup is a re-balancing of the scales…

From Cursed to Blessed?

You may have heard about WWE superstar, Danhausen, cursing the Knicks on live TV during an argument with Stephen A. Smith. Oh, you haven’t heard about this? Well, please watch:

Danhausen demanded a Stephen A. apology or “human money” before he would lift the curse. Well, some guy bought a Cameo from Danhausen as a means to give him said “human money”, and he lifted the curse.

Since then, the Knicks are 7-0.

We’re not saying shit. We’re just observing.

New Episode of Pickup: WNBA

We called this ep WNBA despite it only kinda being about the WNBA because that’s what gets you clicks these days.

Anyways, Ciara, Ashtyn, and Alex say goodbye to some NBA playoff teams, check in on W standings, discuss the reasoning behind SGA’s trench coats, and more!

Leave us a review and we just might read it on the pod…

Listen on Spotify

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The Viral Hoodie Everyone Is Talking About

Because you’re our homie, and me and my homies watch lions women’s basketball. And now, we’re wearing a hoodie about it thanks to isthatarden’s collab with Columbia University’s women’s team.

That’s gonna be an immediate yes from us! Check out the hoodie here and while you’re on the site, take a stroll through the rest of Arden’s website. You’re gonna like what you see, we guarantee it.

Support the cause

Our goal is to keep growing as the ONLY women-owned hoops mag that serves up and provides a platform for the stories of all genders and levels. As such, we need the world to know we exist, and we hope you can help us spread the word. Become a Substack subscriber, listen to our podcast, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, donate to our small business, buy a magazine subscription or merch, and most importantly, tell a friend about us. We can’t thank you enough.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

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Anyways, Ciara, Ashtyn, and Alex say goodbye to some NBA playoff teams, check in on W standings, discuss the reasoning behind SGA’s trench coats, and more!

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Anyways, Ciara, Ashtyn, and Alex say goodbye to some NBA playoff teams, check in on W standings, discuss the reasoning behind SGA’s trench coats, and more!

Issue 09 has arrived—made for those who know the game is forever.
Secure your copy now before 2026 spring subscriptions close.

(Substack subscription ≠ Annual Magazine subscription)

Annual Magazine Subscription

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The Grizzlies posted a statement on Clarke’s passing, and if you would like to read more about it, you can do so here.

So much has been written about Jason Collins (who was the first active openly gay player in the league, aka the bravest man to ever lace ‘em up) throughout the years, and so much written by Collins himself. I recommend taking some time to read his essay on his cancer diagnosis, which he wrote in December 2025. He was 47.

The rest of this newsletter is going to progressively return to our normal sillies, but we would be remiss to ignore these losses.

Born To Sit Courtside But Forced To Sit Rafterside?

We can’t all be part of the hardwood elite, but we can look like it wherever we sit. People are getting theirs already, will you have yours? Get her now!

Everything Is Coming Up Washington

DC, that is. Congrats to the Wizards on seemingly escaping the pox placed upon them by a member of their namesake years ago. The last time Washington had the first overall pick, John Wall Dougied his way into millions of fan’s hearts. We’re wishing you a similar amount of luck this time, as well as an additional amount of luck on the latter end of this pick’s career, for good measure.

Across the pond, is there a team more fun than the Washington Mystics?? We’d be hard pressed to find one. They’re young, they’re turnt, they’re dropping Ws in the chat. Yep, it’s a good time to be in the swamp.

New Episode of Pickup: We’re On Fire

We’re so happy the WNBA is back! Ashtyn and Alex recap their experience at the Portland Fire home opener, and we cover the rest of opening weekend in the W. We also chat about Wemby’s foul, the Pacers’ draft lottery disaster, and more! Ciara was there, too. She just didn’t add a whole lot. Ha ha, just kidding, I am razzing her. She wrote the first part, but I had to add that part. Who am I, you ask? That’s for me to know and you to

Leave us a review and we just might read it on the pod…

Listen on Spotify

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Meet Your Next Hoodie

Because you’re our homie, and me and my homies watch lions women’s basketball. And now, we’re wearing a hoodie about it thanks to isthatarden’s collab with Columbia University’s women’s team.

That’s gonna be an immediate yes from us! Check out the hoodie here and while you’re on the site, take a stroll through the rest of Adren’s website. You’re gonna like what you see.

Yum, Delicious Haterade

Dillon Brooks, the hater that you are.

If you like good writing, take a peak at our fave Katie’s recent essay about Brooks as part of her Exits series. Spoiler alert: it rocks. Anyway, go Beavs.

Support the cause

Our goal is to keep growing as the ONLY women-owned hoops mag that serves up and provides a platform for the stories of all genders and levels. As such, we need the world to know we exist, and we hope you can help us spread the word. Become a Substack subscriber, listen to our podcast, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, donate to our small business, buy a magazine subscription or merch, and most importantly, tell a friend about us. We can’t thank you enough.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

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This past Sunday, while walking to the Moda Center to watch the Trail Blazers get blasted up the butt by the San Antonio Spurs, again, I ran into a lost woman wearing Spurs gear in the Park Blocks. She asked if she could follow our group to the arena, and I replied, “Sure! But uh, were they all out of Blazers gear?”

That lost Spurs fan turned out to be Jackie Olynyk, San Antonio’s Kelly Olynyk’s wife. And it didn’t take long for his now-infamous ankle socks to come up in conversation.

“He wears them all the time, I’m not sure how everyone just noticed this.”

If you were watching the broadcast of the Trail Blazers v. Spurs game on Friday, (and you stayed to the extremely bitter end), you probably saw the socks, and heard Reggie Miller and Mike Tirico laughing about how absurd they looked on the court. ICYMI:

@bleacherreport“He might go play a quick 9” 😂 #nba #basketball #spurs #nbabasketball

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Jackie (who was an absolute delight) went on to say that the ankle socks aren’t her main concern when it comes to Kelly’s on (and off) court aesthetic.

“Right now, I’m working on that disheveled facial hair situation. We need to fix that.”

We have no idea what you’re talking about, Jackie…

Regarding Your Mag Subscription

Hello devoted and gorgeous subscribers,

We’re nearing the end of our Spring Subscription Drive (not a real thing), and we want to make sure all of our subscribers get their magazines!

Please log in to your Shopify account on flagrantmag.com and ensure your address is updated - shoot us an email or DM if it isn’t and you’re having trouble editing on your end. Here’s a how-to on that:

Keep an eye out - Issue 09 is dropping very soon…

Born To Sit Courtside But Forced To Sit Rafterside?

We can’t all be part of the hardwood elite, but we can look like it wherever we sit. Get her now!

New Episode of Pickup: Love Might Be Dead

Ciara, Alex, and Ashtyn have to talk about the worst thing to ever happen ever (re: Klay/Megan). We also cover the NBA playoffs, WNBA excitement, and more!!

Leave us a review and we just might read it on the pod…

Listen on Spotify

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PORTLAND! International Women’s Sports Film Festival Is THIS WEEKEND

You’ve cheered from the stands and repped their jerseys.

Now, step into the stories of women and nonbinary athletes by joining us at the first-ever International Women’s Sports Film Festival.

May 1–3, the festival will take over The Judy with screenings including “Reggae Girlz” from Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton, the Billie Jean King documentary “Give Me The Ball”, and “The Britney Griner Story” (both produced by ESPN Films), plus live conversations with the athletes, coaches, and filmmakers behind the stories. We also have a live taping of the U.S. Soccer podcast hosted by former Thorns captain Meghan Klingenberg and her guests, Morgan Weaver, Bella Bixby and Becky Sauerbrunn!

Explore the full lineup and buy your tickets today!

Choose from single screenings, day passes, or full festival access.

As a friend of Flagrant Magazine, enjoy 50% off tickets using code PARTNERS at checkout!

Follow @iwsff_pdx on Instagram to keep up with news!

I Guess We Are Just Doing Whatever Now

Like putting 76 teams in the Women’s and Men’s NCAA tournaments. As if the imbalance between the top seeds and bottom seeds wasn’t enough already! Obviously they are doing this for money, because that’s all anyone does anything for anymore. Except me, I do it for the fame.

It’s going to be a total drag watching South Carolina beat a college you’ve never heard of 117-12. NCAA, you are on the thinnest ice imaginable right now.

Support the cause

Our goal is to keep growing as the ONLY women-owned hoops mag that serves up and provides a platform for the stories of all genders and levels. As such, we need the world to know we exist, and we hope you can help us spread the word. Become a Substack subscriber, listen to our podcast, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, donate to our small business, buy a magazine subscription or merch, and most importantly, tell a friend about us. We can’t thank you enough.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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We have been trying to reach you about your extended car warranty. We have recently been informed of a bug in our subscription system, so if you could do us a favor to ensure your next issue arrives safe and sound, we promise to love you forever.

There are a few of you who have flagged that your subscription is inex…

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