Examining what Knicks' NBA Cup championship actually means

The New York Knicks are a championship basketball team. Sort of. With their 124-113 come-from-behind win against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, the Knicks claimed the 2025 NBA Cup championship. It is not the NBA championship that Knicks fans have been craving, but it's something. 

Whether or not it is banner-worthy remains to be seen or decided, but it does have some meaning. There was a trophy — and cash bonus — at stake, it was a structured tournament and the players involved cared about it. And the Knicks were the team that ended up standing on top. That has some value. 

But the biggest value might be what it means for the Knicks as a whole this season.

Knicks show they are not just an Eastern Conference power

The Knicks have been on a roll since a three-game losing streak at the end of October, going 16-4 over their past 20 games to climb back toward the top of the Eastern Conference standings. That should not be much of a surprise. The Knicks already established a year ago they are a top team in the East having reached the Eastern Conference Finals. They are right there again this season, especially now that star point guard Jalen Brunson is heating up. 

But Tuesday's win shows they are not just bullies in the East, and that they can compete with the top teams in the Western Conference as well.

The Spurs are rapidly emerging as a contender in the West and just beat the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals of the NBA Cup, handing them only their second loss of the season.

They are legit. They are for real. They have superstar power.

And the Knicks just beat them. 

That is a big statement all its own, and in the grand scheme of things, it might be even bigger than an in-season tournament that will probably end up getting forgotten by the end of this season.

History has not been kind to NBA Cup champions

At this point, it is still a small sampling, but the brief history of NBA Cup championships has not exactly translated into NBA playoff success.

The Los Angeles Lakers won the first NBA Cup during the 2023-24 season and went on to lose in the first round of that year's NBA playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks won last year's NBA Cup and experienced the same postseason fate as the Lakers — a first-round loss.

Each team won just a single playoff game in their respective series. 

Can the Knicks break that trend? That is going to be their challenge.

For as prominent of a franchise as the Knicks are in the NBA, championship success has not always followed them. They have just two NBA championships in franchise history (both from the early 1970s), so any championship that they can claim is something worthy of celebrating. That includes this. But it's still only an appetizer for the main course Knicks fans and the organization are hungry for this season.