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New York Knicks Quiz: Name the nine players who played at least 10 minutes per game on the 1972-73 championship team. Answer below.
NBA Finals
I’ve been saying over the years that I’ve watched the Knicks every night, except when they’re on the west coast. They’ve been highly entertaining since bringing in Jalen Brunson four seasons ago, and I love the broadcast combination of Mike Breen and Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier.
I’ve been a Knicks fan since my youth, going back to 1967, and all the years growing up listening to Marv Albert on the transistor radio.
So, yes…this amazing run has been a lot of fun.
In Game 1 of the Finals, last Wednesday in San Antonio, the Knicks got it done, 105-95, pulling away late in the fourth quarter as Jalen Brunson, aka Captain Clutch, had 13 of his 30 points in the final quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns (18 points, 12 rebounds) held Victor Wembanyama in check, Wemby with 26 points, 12 rebounds, but six turnovers.
The star for New York, aside from Brunson, was Josh Hart, who while scoring only 3 points, pulled down 15 rebounds, with six assists and four steals.
In Game 2 Friday night, the Knicks had a 56-52 halftime lead behind the play of Mikal Bridges and KAT.
Charles Barkley said at the intermission, “Wemby’s in shock right now. It’s probably been a long time since he got his ass kicked like this.
“But right now, big KAT is taking his ass to the woodshed.”
The Knicks extended their lead to 97-83 with 6:00 to play in the fourth quarter, when the Spurs went on a heroic 14-0 run to tie it 97-97, 2:59 to play. It looked bleak for Knicks fans.
But OG Anunoby made three free throws, 100-97, only to see Wembanyama make a layup with 57.3 remaining, he was fouled by KAT, Wemby makes the free throw, Spurs up 104-102.
Jalen Brunson then ties it on a mid-range jumper, 104-104, 39.3 left. Wemby misses a jump shot, Brunson misses, and that’s when it happened.
Wemby grabbed the rebound, he saw Stephon Castle heading up court, Wemby sent a pass his way, Castle wasn’t looking, it bounced off him, Brunson would up with the ball and Wemby fouled him.
Castle said after: “I was looking at him when he first got the rebound. I just started to take off to try to give him some space to dribble up the court. I didn’t see him throw it to me.”
But Brunson only made one of the two free throws, 105-104, and the Spurs, following a timeout, had 7.5 seconds, ball out at half court. The inbound play was a pick-and-roll, De’Aaron Fox finding Wemby for a 20-foot jumper and it clanged off the rim, Knicks win as time expired.
What an ending, one that Wembanyama won’t soon forget. An epic disaster.
He ended up with 29 points after a poor first half, but when he could have been the hero of a memorable comeback with lots of momentum heading to New York for Game 3 Monday at Madison Square Garden, he came up small. Flat-out choked.
The Knicks were very lucky, surviving a 7-for-25 shooting night from Brunson (20 points), as Mikal Bridges (20 points on 8-of-13 from the field, six rebounds, six assists) came up huge, OG contributed 17, KAT had 12 points, 13 rebounds, and once again, Landry Shamet (13 points) was big off the bench.
New York has won 13 straight playoff games, an amazing, staggering run. Game 3 will be fun.
[But because President Trump is attending, ‘watch parties’ were canceled outside the Garden, and fans were told to arrive two hours ahead of time, which won’t be well-received in certain circles. Thank you, Mr. President.]
–Going back to Game 1, a fan who ran onto the Frost Bank Center court during the fourth quarter attempting to take a selfie with Wembanyama was arrested and given a lifetime ban from all NBA arenas, the league announced Thursday.
–In College Basketball, Kentucky coach Mark Pope was having a poor offseason with the portal, but that all changed in a flash this week when former Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic, the No. 1 player in USA TODAY’s transfer portal rankings, committed to Kentucky after withdrawing his name from the 2026 NBA Draft ahead of the May 27 deadline. He stands to make a significant amount of money in a lucrative NIL deal in Lexington.
Momcilovic averaged 16.9 points per game last season, and as a 6-8 wing shot 48.7% from 3-point range. He was named to the second-team All-Big 12.
MLB
—Yankees were waiting on pins and needles for an update on Aaron Judge’s physical status after he has been out of the lineup since May 31 with a seeming shoulder injury, what was then diagnosed as a bone bruise in his right shoulder.
A specialist was brought in to review a second round of tests, Dr. Gregory Pearl known for his work on complex vascular procedures and thoracic outlet syndrome management, something found more often in pitchers that typically requires surgery.
That would be awful for Judge and the Yanks in 2026. They aren’t winning anything big without him.
But then Thursday night the verdict came in. Judge had a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side. He is relegated to rest and limited activity and then he’ll be re-imaged in about four to six weeks to determine how much improvement he has made and what his next steps might be.
There is little doubt he’ll return to action at some point this summer, though maybe August.
Judge was having a poor season by his future Hall of Fame standards, 17 homers, 38 RBIs, a .248 batting average (though still a .907 OPS).
But he has a bit of an excuse because Judge then said he knows when the injury occurred, April 26, when he went for an “awkward” diving catch while also trying to avoid a teammate in a game in Houston.
The pain became too much to handle last weekend in Sacramento when he felt pain while at the plate. The “biggest thing” was that “I wasn’t swinging the way that I wanted to,” Judge said Friday.
GM Brian Cashman said Judge’s injury “was not on anybody’s radar in any way, shape or form” until last weekend.
New York muddled during the week and then took on the Red Sox (27-35) Friday night at the Stadium and promptly lost, 5-3. Judge’s replacement, Spencer Jones, did go 3-for-3 with an RBI. The Yanks fell to 37-26.
After a rainout Saturday, the two teams met this afternoon and the score was tied 1-1 heading to the bottom of the eighth when Cody Bellinger homered to make it 2-1, and Jazz Chisholm hit a 3-run homer to break it open, the Yanks winning 6-1.
—The Mets are out in San Diego and opened with a solid 5-0 win over the slumping Padres (32-30) Friday. Christian Scott had another strong outing for the Metropolitans, 5 2/3 of shutout ball for his second consecutive win after not getting one in his first 15 major-league starts.
San Diego has lost six straight, 10 of 11.
But the Padres rebounded to take Saturday’s contest, 3-2.
–Going back to last Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani did it again, throwing six innings of two-hit ball in the Dodgers’ 7-0 win over the Diamondbacks, Ohtani now 6-2, 0.74!
But wait, there’s more! He went 3-for-4 at the plate with two walks. Six shutout innings, gets on base five times.
Friday, L.A. (41-23) beat the pathetic Angels (24-40) at Chavez Ravine, 1-0 on a Freddie Freeman walk-off home run.
Dodgers fans have to be pleased that Roki Sasaki, who threw seven innings, with 10 strikeouts, is beginning to look like the pitcher they originally signed out of Japan.
Saturday, the Dodgers whipped the Angels 9-2, Yoshinobu Yamamoto with eight innings of one-run ball, Shohei Ohtani with a 2-run homer, No. 11 for him.
—Saturday night in Denver, Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski threw a 103.7 mph pitch, the fastest by a starter since tracking began in 2008.
The 24-year-old right-hander’s record-setting pitch was low and outside to Kyle Karros in the third inning. The Brewers (39-23) won the game 7-1, ‘Mis’ going seven innings, zero earned, 8 strikeouts to move to 7-2, 1.50.
He has thrown the 12 fastest pitches by a starter this season. His previous high was 103.4 mph against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 25.
He threw 52 pitches 100 mph or faster Saturday night.
–Nice night for the Giants’ Matthew Chapman Friday at Wrigley Field. In an 18-3 win, Chapman had two home runs, including a grand slam, with eight RBIs. The Giants (26-38) have six grand slams in less than 20 days or less, the sixth to do so in MLB history.
–Philadelphia lefthander Cristopher Sanchez saw his historic 50 2/3-inning scoreless streak end against the Padres Wednesday in a 3-2 win. After throwing six scoreless to extend the streak, Sanchez gave up a sort of cheapie run in the seventh, the Citizens Bank Park capacity crowd, after a moment of silence, rose to acknowledge the hurler’s amazing run.
Sanchez (7-2, 1.46) ends up just nine innings short of Orel Hershiser’s all-time record of 59 spotless innings, coming in the Dodgers’ improbable run to the World Series title in 1988.
—Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred worries the owners’ salary cap proposal could lead to a work stoppage like the one that caused the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and says the plan is needed because management concluded that the luxury tax system in place since 2003 no longer is working.
Owners last week made their first cap proposal since 1994, when a 7 ½-month strike caused the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years. Manfred was a junior lawyer on the owner’s bargaining team in those negotiations.
“We’re open to whatever ideas people have, but we need a realistic framework that addresses the fans’ concerns about competitive balance and you just can’t ignore that financial penalties have not gotten it done for us,” Manfred said Wednesday at a news conference during an owners’ meeting.
A record nine teams paid a luxury tax in both 2024 and 2025, when the Dodgers were hit with a $169.4 million bill. Total tax rose from $78.5 million in 2022 to $222.8 million the following year, $311.3 million in 2024 and $402.6 million last year.
“We never thought about the LT as a revenue-generating device,” Manfred said. “And when you see more and more tax getting paid, you realize that it is not the kind of speed bump that would help on the issue of competitive balance.”
For the Mets, Juan Soto is an extreme example of the problem some clubs face in a ‘cap world,’ as he is set to make $57.5 million in 2027, the first year of a new labor deal. Fitting such a large contract under a hard cap raises a complicated issue, as his deal was signed under a different CBA.
College Baseball
They had the super-regionals (Sweet Sixteen) this weekend, No. 1 and 2 seeds UCLA and Georgia Tech having been eliminated last weekend.
And thus far, West Virginia and Troy were the first teams to qualify for Omaha, first time ever for both, which is always very cool. Ole Miss and Georgia are also in as I post, and North Carolina just punched its ticket…other games later.
–In the Women’s College World Series, Texas went back-to-back as national champion, defeating Texas Tech.
Golf Balls
–They held The Memorial Tournament (sponsored by Workday) at Jack’s Place this week, Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio, a signature event.
And after two rounds….
J.T. Poston -9…who has been having a lousy year.
Ryan Gerard -8
Sam Burns -6
Tommy Fleetwood -4
Scottie Scheffler +1
Rory +1
Cam Young +3
Scheffler, particularly in the first round, was visibly upset over his play, a rarity for him to show such emotion (though he has a lot this year), but I also think way too much was made of his interactions with his caddie. Scottie has just had a frustrating year, by his All-World standards.
The wind played havoc with the field the first two days, with Rickie Fowler missing the cut after a 79-82. Alex Smalley, who has been hot recently, went 83-76.
Rain interrupted play in the third round Saturday, with the leaders having played just 6, 7 holes, so Sunday was setting up to be a marathon session.
When they completed the third round….
Poston -12
Gerard -8
Burns -7
And this afternoon….
Burns -10 thru 12
Poston -10…12
Gerard -10…12
Wyndham Clark -9…13
Fleetwood -9…13
Fleetwood then eagles the par-5 15th to take the lead at -11.
But Burns, Poston and Gerard birdie 15 to also move to -11.
Clark birdies 16…five tied at -11!
And then Gerard makes a fantastic birdie on the par-4 17th for the solo lead at -12!
But Poston with a terrific birdie on 18 to go to -12, and Gerard made a clutch par putt to get into the playoff with J.T.
And I’m moving on after both par the first playoff hole, Poston blowing a golden opportunity to get win No. 4.
—The PGA Tour is working on a reimagined schedule, initially for 2027, but the task proved far more difficult for CEO Brian Rolapp than first planned, and now we’re talking about 2028.
Rolapp said this week that whether the changes actually happen depends on progress in the coming weeks, with the Tour expected to announce sweeping schedule changes at the Travelers Championship.
The general framework is to have a new two-tiered system. The top circuit (Track One) would feature roughly 20-plus events (majors included), fields of around 120 players, and purses of $20 million. The bottom 20-30 finishers at season’s end would be relegated to the second tier (Track Two); the top performers there would earn promotion back up (like soccer’s/Premier League’s relegation system).
As it stands now, Torrey Pines would open the season, with the calendar wrapping in late summer.
But there is resistance from multiple directions – players, sponsors, and tournaments alike. Some players see the proposal as little more than the existing PGA Tour/Korn Ferry structure with a smaller event count. Tournament officials likely slotted into the second tier are asking why they’d offer substantial prize money for what amounts to a feeder league. Media partners want clarity on what they’re actually paying for under their current deals.
Yup, this isn’t easy. One example…multiple sources told Golfweek that the Tour has asked John Deere to shift its tournament from its longtime home in the Quad Cities, which is its corporate headquarters and site of TPC Deere Run, to Chicago…the Tour looking to move to bigger markets. But last I saw, the John Deere is staying in the Quad Cities.
And Rocket Mortgage, the title sponsor of July’s Rocket Classic in Detroit, remains on the fence whether it will renew because Track One’s price tag is too high (reportedly $30 million) and the Track Two (reportedly $12-$15 million) is too much to pay for the field they’d get.
One report says the top 120 would be eligible only for the Track One events, making it even worse for Track Two sponsors. ‘Here, pay us $15 million to host a field of total schmoes.’
We’ll see how this shakes out soon.
–In the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club, entering the fourth round, Nelly Korda was tied for the lead as she seeks her first Women’s Open title.
But Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho was just a shot behind.
—Auburn won the 2026 DI men’s national golf championship, second in program history (second in three years) besting UCLA in match play.
Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout won the individual title earlier in the six-day event.
French Open
—To say the French Open was chaotic would be a massive understatement, with both the women’s and men’s finals lacking star power.
Saturday, in the women’s finals, it was 19-year-old 8-seed Mirra Andreeva against world No. 114 Maja Chwalinska of Poland, the lowest-ranked finalist in tournament history. [Chwalinska beat Diana Shnaider in the semifinals to become the second qualifier* to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era (since 1968).]
*The first was Emma Raducanu at the 2021 U.S. Open, who was 18 at the time and beat Leylah Fernandez in the final. No qualifier has ever reached a men’s Grand Slam final.
Andreeva, from Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, then whipped Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2, for her first Grand Slam title.
Sunday, in the men’s final, it was 2-seed Alexander “Sascha” Zverez (world No. 3, but 2 seed due to Carlos Alcaraz’ absence) squaring off against 10 Flavio Cobolli, whose semifinal opponent, storybook longshot Matteo Arnaldi, withdrew with a virus, another example of the chaos.
And Zverez, 29, finally picked up his first Grand Slam title in five sets. Good for him.
—Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka said after her three-set quarterfinal loss to Diana Shnaider that she “wants to quit tennis” and will take time to sort out her emotions before returning to the court.
Sabalenka blew a one-set and two-break lead against Shnaider before getting blitzed in the third set of the 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss.
“Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after the match. “Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”
She lost 10 games in a row. “I guess mentally I got into a very deep, deep dark hole and I couldn’t get back mentally on track.”
Stanley Cup Final
I apologize, but my interest level is zero…as in I haven’t turned it on, but I’ve followed the story lines, and the Vegas Golden Knights took Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, 5-4, and it was looking good in Game 2, Thursday, the Golden Knights leading 2-0 after two periods.
But Carolina scored three goals in the third, up 3-2 on a Jordan Staal power play goal at 15:25, only to have Vegas’ Mark Stone tie it up with less than two minutes to play…overtime.
And Carolina’s Seth Jarvis ended it early on a power play goal at 3:56.
[Much has been made of Vegas coach John Tortorella’s unsuccessful challenge of a call, that resulted in a 2-minute minor penalty, which led to Staal’s goal, but it went into OT anyway with the Mark Stone score.]
So, the series was 1-1, Game 3 Saturday night in Las Vegas. And it was nuts.
Vegas went up 4-0 after two, three of the goals coming on Mitch Marner’s hat trick, who accomplished the feat in a six-minute stretch, the fastest hat trick in Cup Final history.
But then Carolina scored four goals in the third period to tie it at 4-4, scoring three times in 39 seconds, fastest in Cup Final history as well!
Finally, at 5:38 of double overtime, the Golden Knights’ Shea Theodore ended it, 5-4, Vegas leading the crazy series 2-1….Game 4 Tuesday.
Stuff
—Golden Tempo backed up his win in the Kentucky Derby by taking the Belmont yesterday at beautiful Saratoga in upstate New York, a second Triple Crown triumph for trainer Cherie DeVaux, jockey Jose Ortiz again up top. The team had skipped the Preakness.
Golden Tempo held off Commandment at the finish line, with favorite Renegade third.
DeVaux is the first female trainer to win multiple Triple Crown races.
Next year they return to Belmont Park, which has been undergoing a massive renovation the past three years.
—Russell Wilson retired from the NFL to take a job with CBS Sports. He finished his career with 46,966 passing yards and 5,568 rushing yards (fourth-highest by a QB in NFL history). He’s the only NFL quarterback ever to top 40,000 passing yards and at least 5,000 rushing in his career.
Wilson went to 10 Pro Bowls and led Seattle to a title in the 2014 Super Bowl.
He’s now going to be part of “The NFL Today” team as a studio analyst. Along with former Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long, they will join Nate Burleson, Bill Cowher and host James Brown.
—A bear that was holed up inside an electronics factory in northeast Japan after attacking four people, eluded capture, apparently by opening a window by itself and fleeing under the cover of night, authorities said.
The bear’s trail suggests it released the window latch and pushed it open, according to city officials. Before Wednesday’s escape, the bear was seen opening a faucet to drink using its front paws.
“We believe it to be extremely intelligent,” Fukushima Mayor Yuki Baba said, according to Kyodo news agency.
The bear was able to eat the fruit and honey baits set for it without getting caught in the traps.
Japan has had a big problem with bears, which have killed many…really.
—A man has died after being attacked by a shark while fishing off the coast of Western Australia, police said on Saturday, the third fatal shark attack in Australia in three weeks!
The 35-year-old was attacked on Saturday morning while spearfishing with family off the state’s south coast at Michaelmas Island, close to the town of Albany.
A 4.5 m (14.8 ft.) shark, of an unknown species, was spotted by a member of the public near the site, a nature reserve that receives few visitors, on Saturday, state authorities said.
Paramedics at the scene worked on the victim for “more than two hours.” Just imagine.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/7/75: #1 “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” (John Denver…anthem for West Virginia University…and a super tune…) #2 “Sister Golden Hair” (America) #3 “How Long” (Ace)…and…#4 “Bad Time” (Grand Funk) #5 “Old Days” (Chicago) #6 “When Will I Be Loved” (Linda Ronstadt) #7 “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” (Freddy Fender) #8 “I’m Not Lisa” (Jessi Colter) #9 “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” (Major Harris…a fave…) #10 “Philadelphia Freedom” (The Elton John Band…B+ week…)
New York Knicks Quiz Answer: Main rotation pieces for the 1972-73 champion Knicks that beat the Lakers in the Finals, 4-1.
Walt Frazier (21.2 ppg, 7.3 reb., 5.9 assists)
Dave DeBusschere (16.3 ppg., 10.2 reb.)
Bill Bradley (16.1 ppg)
Earl Monroe (15.5 ppg)
Jerry Lucas (9.9 ppg., 7.2 reb., 4.5 assists)
Willis Reed (11.0 ppg., 8.6 reb.)
Dean Meminger, Phil Jackson and Dick Barnett. In the playoffs, though, it was an 8-man rotation, Barnett playing sparingly.
Brief Add-on up top early Tues. AM…Game 3.
