Last night, my beautiful baby boys took home the 2025 Emirate NBA Cup, winning the in-season tournament with a 124-113 victory over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
THE NEW YORK KNICKS HAVE WON THEIR FIRST TROPHY SINCE 1973 🏆
KAT, Brunson and the Knicks storm into Vegas and win the 2025 NBA Cup Championship. pic.twitter.com/TPsl642gUd
— ESPN (@espn) December 17, 2025
Let’s run through one of the best nights of my life, contentify it up, identifying winners and losers as we go.
Winner: Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada, is a decaying relic.
The combination of COVID price gauging, destructive Trump tariffs, at-home casinos on our phones, and a decreasing demand for Elvis Presley impersonators, cratering Vegas tourism.
You can drink, gamble, and pay sex workers from the comfort of your home.
In 2025, every city is Sin City.
The NBA Cup brings energy to the city, right before the holidays, a Christmas cookie, a Hanukkah latke, a happy Saturnalia to all those who observe.
The winning players of the cup all receive $500k (2nd place receives $250k), the NBA paid a lot of overdue electric bills this week. Ariel Hukporti just paid for a Russian boy’s braces.
Losers: Las Vegas and Adam Silver
Annnnnnd NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, wants to take the NBA Cup out of Vegas.
The In-Season tournament, created in 2023 to draw more excitement to early NBA season games (and attach as many sponsors to it as possible), is now a part of Amazon’s 10-year deal with the league.
And Amazon wants to leave Vegas.
“We’ve loved our experience in Vegas,” Silver said in an appearance on the NBA on Prime pregame show. “We’re talking with Amazon Prime about whether it makes sense to maybe go to some unique locations for the final game. They’ve suggested, for example, some storied college arenas. So we’re just looking at other ways to do this.”
Players and coaches caught in various, vaguely connected with the mafia, FBI gambling probes and it took a new business partner in Amazon to sit Adam Silver down and suggest maybe they should chill with their glamorization of the lone city associated with the crimes the league is currently being investigated for.
Fans think the games are rigged and Adam Silver, draped head-to-toe in DraftKings swag, can’t read a room.
The NBA In-Season tournament is cool.
I enjoy the colorful courts and players exerting real effort to win regular season these games.
Give players more cash prizes. It’s dope.
But it was never a particularly cool implication that these players would be blowing all earnings partying in Vegas.
In a time when education, as a whole, actively stripped for parts, diluted and de-prioritized by the country, it would be far cooler to play these games at Duke or Indiana or an HBCU arena.
The guys will still play hard for half a million dollar checks and to win a big game in front of all the hoes.
I’d still enjoy the games.
It’s not like I was watching the Cup Finals like “mannnn, I can’t wait for De’Aaron Fox to get drunk in Vegas after”.
But knowing Adam Silver, next year’s Cup Finals will be played in Trump’s White House ballroom, winners get Trump crypto.
Winner: New York Knicks
Renaldo Balkman. Elfrid Payton. Lance Thomas. Jared Jeffries. Cleanthony Early. Ron Baker. Eddy Curry. David Lee. Nate Robinson. Channing Frye. Wilson Chandler. Baron Davis. Tracy McGrady. Frank Ntilikina. Andrea Bargnani. Landry Fields. Arron Afflalo. Emmanuel Mudiay. Dave Fizdale. Derek Fisher. Isiah Thomas. Phil Jackson. Kurt Rambis. …(…Julius Randle..)
If you can’t enjoy confetti falling, Knicks players all holding up a trophy together, your heart’s not in this anymore.
And that’s okay.
I still watch Real Housewives of Potomac, but I’m mostly just on my phone. People grow out of things.
But last night was one of the best moments of my life.
Stephon Marbury ate vaseline, yo.
Winner: Jalen Brunson
How lucky to be alive in a time of greatness, to behold the sights and sounds, a New York Knick at the free throw line to thunderous “M-V-P” chants.
Jalen Brunson is the smallest guy on every court he walks onto. He doesn’t give a shit.
The Spurs backcourt jumped him, Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell, taking turns throwing body blows, Jalen unimpressed.
Jalen Brunson in the NBA Cup:
29 PTS
33 PTS
37 PTS
35 PTS
40 PTS
25 PTSon 53/46% shooting. pic.twitter.com/nyDW7EDB7D
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 17, 2025
Jalen Brunson was the 2025 NBA Cup MVP.
He’ll most likely never win the league MVP award.
But he just carried a Knicks team through an NBA tournament and came out with a trophy.
This is sick as hell.
Loser: Victor Wembanyama
Minutes restriction or not, Victor Wembanyama didn’t play well.
And I’m not going full sports debate TV, “Here’s how you win championships” rant, from me, a guy who didn’t make the JV team.
But Victor Wembanyama is Timothy Chalamet-ing a clear message to anyone who’s listening: He wants to be the greatest of All Time.
And he lost an opportunity to put a championship on his resume, settling for weak perimeter jumpers and foul-baiting in the paint.
Victor Von Doom had a 12-point 3rd quarter to boost San Antonio’s lead but if the GOAT is determined through random scoring bursts in losing efforts, then he’s a long way from reaching the Cam Thomas mountain top.
Wemby has yet to reach the Coby White summit.
Now it makes sense why Victor spent the summer working out with Jamal Crawford.
Winner: OG Anunoby
The real freak boy. I don’t know why I wrote that, but it’s staying.
Here’s what OG did in the Knicks Cup W:
- 28 points (game high)
- 10-for-17 from the field
- 5-for-10 from 3
- 9 rebounds
- 3 assists
- 1 block
OG leads the NBA in corner three percentage.
He’s shooting a career-best 41% from 3.
Josh Hart returning to the starting lineup and whatever OG did during his injury rehab unlocked an All-Star caliber forward, quickly becoming the second most important player on the team, leapfrogging both Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges; two players who would look incredible in the old Michael Redd Milwaukee Bucks unis.
Winner: Tyler Kolek
Speaking of guys who would love the state of Wisconsin, Tyler Kolek minutes have become controlled crash-outs. Pushing the pace on every outlet, talking, screaming, urging teammates to lock in on defense, when Tyler Kolek checks into the game, everyone better catch up to his speed, or he’s driving to the rim or picking a ballhandler’s dribble. Tyler Kolek had 5 rebounds he should not have had.
Kolek was playing for $500K and to keep his Manhattan apartment.
Winner: Mike Brown
Tom Thibodeau would’ve rather watched Karl-Anthony Towns drag his injured calf up and down the court than ever allowed Tyler Kolek to play as many minutes as Mike Brown did last night.
In the 4th quarter, Dylan Harper forced a backcourt violation on Jalen Brunson, handcuffing all the way up the court, manhandling him into a mistake.
Mike Brown immediately ripped Tyler Kolek off the bench to release some pressure, the game was won.
Coach Brown also deserves credit for trusting Jordan Clarkson, who started the 4th with two huge 3’s to swing momentum back toward New York, instead of subbing in Mikal Bridges, who played like he just received an email from Pablo Torre’s team asking for his comment on a story he’s about to run on him.
Loser: Mikal Bridges
Mikal Bridges spent the 4th quarter on the bench, watching the Knicks win the NBA Cup from the best seats in the house.
Bridges is my guy, so I’ll keep it moving but, like, play better.
Loser: Miles McBride
The Knicks need to get bigger.
Guerschon Yabusele never showed up to camp.
Mohamed Diawara and Pacome Dadiet are stealing company time, abusing cigarette breaks.
I keep hearing how Jalen Brunson is too teeny tiny to ever win a championship, well, Deuce McBride, too, is widdy biddy.
If Tyler Kolek is going to play like that while McBride randomly misses games every month, why not include the young man in a package for a reliable big?
I guess I should talk about the Spurs a little…
Winner: Dylan Harper
Dylan Harper has passed the eye test.
The maturity and poise that this kid plays with to complement his all-around skill set is beyond impressive. The 19-year-old rookie has superstar potential. pic.twitter.com/ILmuAsGtSv
— Jake Weinbach (@JWeinbachNBA) December 17, 2025
Rookie Dylan Harper led the Spurs with 21 points, the only impact player with a good shooting night. While the rest of the squad was shooting on a moving target, Dylan Harper had the time of his life.
He and Stephon Castle are a wrecking crew together. They’re like if John Wall and Bradley Beal played defense because they cared about winning.
Loser: De’Aaron Fox
Giannis and Wembanyama would be Annihilation. The End of Worlds. Apocalypse Now.
De’Aaron Fox, brought in for his killer 4th quarter instincts, proving his clutch in battles with Steph Curry and the Warriors.
In the 4th quarter, Fox missed all 3 of his shot attempts, drew a foul, and committed a turnover.
Dylan Harper looked like the best player on the team in the Cup.
Acquired at last season’s trade deadline, Fox got a 4-year $229 million contract extension, underwent season-ending surgery on his pinkie finger and might lose his job to the rookie point guard who already looks better than Fox ever has in his career.
Someone’s feelings will be hurt in San Antonio and it’s 1000% about to be De’Aaron’s.
Anyway,
The Knicks are the 2025 NBA Cup champions.
I’m throwing a parade in my apartment. It’s a real sausage fest to be honest.
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