Stephen A. Smith has built a career on loud opinions and fiery debates, but Saturday night left him nearly speechless. After the New York Knicks clinched their first NBA title in 53 years with a 94-90 Game 5 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the longtime Knicks fan and ESPN personality made a rare, honest confession: he had given up hope.
“I never thought I’d see it,” Smith said, his voice cracking with emotion as he stood courtside at the Frost Bank Center. “I gotta confess, until this series, I never thought it’d happen.”
The Knicks ended decades of heartbreak behind a 45-point explosion from Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, who carried New York past a gritty Spurs team. The win sparked wild celebrations across the city, but for Smith, it was also a moment of reckoning. He had endured the same misery as every other Knicks fan: the missed layups, the finger rolls that didn't fall, the Game 7 collapses.
“So many things have gone wrong,” Smith said, rattling off painful memories. “The layups that wasn’t with Charles Smith, the [Patrick] Ewings finger rolls, the Game 7s they didn’t come out on top. Time after time after time.”
Smith, born in the Bronx and raised in Hollis, Queens, has always worn his Knicks fandom on his sleeve. But even he had started to wonder if the drought would ever end. His confession resonated with fans who had also felt the sting of near-misses and false dawns. The emotional release after the final buzzer was a shared catharsis.
“I didn’t practice like these guys did, they did it,” Smith said. “But it’s been 53 long years, and there’s been so many moments of misery that we had to endure as New York Knick fans.”
The victory was especially sweet given the backdrop of the series. The Spurs had been confident, and even Becky Hammon's 'too small' jab at Jalen Brunson backfired spectacularly as Brunson dominated the Finals. Smith’s admission underscores just how improbable this title run felt to even the most die-hard supporters.
As the city prepares for a parade through Manhattan on Thursday, Smith will be front and center, savoring a moment he once thought was impossible. “It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life covering sports,” he said, summing up the joy of a long-suffering fan base finally tasting glory.
For a generation of Knicks fans who only knew heartbreak, Smith’s raw honesty was a reminder that even the loudest voices can sometimes lose faith—but that makes the triumph all the sweeter.
