New York City is beginning to feel like the center of the professional basketball world again.
Months after the WNBA’s Liberty won their first-ever title, the NBA’s Knicks have snapped a decades-long Eastern Conference Finals drought to move within four wins of a Finals appearance and eight wins of a title. Fans in the Mecca of basketball have responded accordingly.
Despite the drought, the Knicks are undeniably one of the most storied franchises in professional sports. With some of the greatest players in league history suiting up in orange and blue, New York has experienced some large-scale success, though it has been over 50 years since the franchise was the last one standing.
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With that in mind, The Sporting News revisits the Knicks’ last NBA championship and the team’s history in the NBA Finals.
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When was the last time the Knicks won an NBA championship?
The last time the Knicks won an NBA championship was in 1973. New York needed five games to defeat the Lakers on the game’s biggest stage for the second time in four seasons.
The 1973 Knicks team was a who’s who of all-time greats, featuring five members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team: Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Earl Monroe, and Willis Reed.
Reed was named Finals MVP with averages of 16.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in the series, while Hall of Famer Bill Bradley led the team with 18.6 points per game in the series.
In many ways, the 1972-73 Knicks felt like a team of destiny, surging their way through the playoffs with a 4-1 semifinals victory over the 52-win Baltimore Bullets (now Wizards) and a seven-game East Finals win over the 1-seed Celtics, who had won 68 games during the regular season.
MORE:Â Where Willis Reed’s 1970 heroics rank among gutsiest performances in playoff history
How many NBA championships have the Knicks won?
The Knicks have won two championships in franchise history — both championship wins came in the 1970s.
As one of the NBA’s original franchises, the 1946-47 season was New York’s first. After three consecutive Finals losses in the 1950s, the franchise finally got over the hump with a seven-game series win over the Lakers in the 1970 NBA Finals.
Three years later, the Knicks’ championship core remained largely intact when they needed just five games to defeat the Lakers in the 1973 Finals.
| Year | Opponent | Series | MVP |
| 1970 | Lakers | Knicks 4, Lakers 3 | Willis Reed |
| 1973 | Lakers | Knicks 4, Lakers 1 | Willis Reed |
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When was the last time the Knicks played in the NBA Finals?
The Knicks’ last NBA Finals appearance was in 1999 against the Spurs. San Antonio won the series, 4-1.
New York has not been to the Finals since the turn of the century and, in addition to the Finals drought, had last appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000. The Knicks ended a 25-year conference finals drought with their run in 2025.
Knicks NBA Finals history
The Knicks have advanced to the NBA Finals eight times in franchise history, posting a 2-6 record in those series.
New York’s NBA Finals appearances are somewhat spread out, with three in the 1950s, three in the 1970s, and the remaining two in the 1990s. The franchise came painstakingly close to winning a title in 1994 but has not been able to hoist the trophy since 1973.
Here is a breakdown of the Knicks’ full NBA Finals history, which includes three Game 7 losses.
| Year | Opponent | Series | MVP* |
| 1951 | Rochester Royals (now Kings) | Royals 4, Knicks 3 | — |
| 1952 | Minneapolis Lakers | Lakers 4, Knicks 3 | — |
| 1953 | Minneapolis Lakers | Lakers 4, Knicks 1 | — |
| 1970 | Los Angeles Lakers | Knicks 4, Lakers 3 | Willis Reed |
| 1973 | Los Angeles Lakers | Knicks 4, Lakers 1 | Willis Reed |
| 1994 | Houston Rockets | Rockets 4, Knicks 3 | Hakeem Olajuwon |
| 1999 | San Antonio Spurs | Spurs 4, Knicks 1 | Tim Duncan |
*The NBA did not name a Finals MVP until 1969.
