The Dallas Wings want to win, and the New York Knicks’ championship run teaches the Wings that a cohesive bunch of college teammates can indeed translate to success in the professional ranks.
While the Wings were playing the Portland Fire on Saturday night, the Knicks were playing the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. After a 94-90 win over of the Spurs, the Knicks won their first NBA Championship since 1973.
Jalen Brunson finished with 45 points on 14-of-27 shooting from the field and was awarded the Finals MVP trophy after the Knicks secured the Game 5 win.
Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges combined for 27 points in support of their Villanova teammate. It was not the first time that Bridges and Hart helped Brunson in a critical game.
Hart scored 12 points while Brunson scored four points in the 2016 National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Kris Jenkins hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a dramatic 77-74 win in that one.
Bridges scored 19 points, and Brunson chipped in nine in the 2018 National Championship between Villanova and the Michigan Wolverines, as Donte DiVincenzo led the team with 31 points in the 79-62 victory.
Bridges, Hart and Brunson won in college. The Knicks decided to see if the trio could do it in the NBA, and it worked.
The Knicks signed Brunson as a free agent on June 30, 2022 — Mavericks fans will no doubt remember that one. The signing came after Brunson was part of the supporting cast surrounding Luka Doncic in Dallas during the 2021-22 playoffs. Brunson averaged 21.6 points per game and helped Dallas defeat the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. He scored 41 points in Game 2 and 31 points in Game 3 as Doncic sat those games out with injuries.
Because of Brunson’s playoff success with Dallas and his two National Championship rings, the Knicks decided to give the keys to Brunson. At the time, New York had not won a playoff series since the 2012-13 postseason, and the Knicks believed Brunson could change that. He lifted his game to a new level as soon as he got to New York.
After averaging 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game in the 2021-22 season, Brunson finished his first season in New York averaging 24 points and 6.2 assists per game.
The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with the help of Hart, who New York traded for on Feb. 9, 2023. During the playoff run, Hart averaged 10.4 points while Brunson averaged 27.8 points.
In the 2023 offseason, the Knicks signed DiVincenzo, bringing another Villanova teammate. All of a sudden the New York Knickerbockers were known as the “Nova Knicks.”
The Knicks finished with 50 wins and returned to the playoffs. During a playoff run that ended with a loss in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, DiVincenzo averaged 17.3 points per game, Hart averaged 14.5 points per game and Brunson averaged 32.4 points per game
In the 2024 offseason, Bridges was brought in through a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. Then, DiVincenzo was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves to bring Karl Anthony-Towns to New York.
After a 51-win season, the Knicks made it to the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Nova Knicks continued being a bright spot for New York as Brunson averaged 29.4 points per game, Bridges averaged 15.6 points per game and Hart averaged 11.6 points per game in the playoffs.
This season, New York won 53 games and returned to the playoffs. Once again, the Nova Knicks dazzled in the postseason. Brunson averaged 28.4 points per game, Bridges averaged 13.5 points per game and Hart averaged 10.4 points per game.
Betting on team chemistry and success in college led to the Knicks becoming a consistent playoff team, leading to an NBA Finals run.
The plan started with Brunson, who evolved into a top-guard in the NBA. Then, New York added players to help with the scoring as well as defense with Bridges and Hart. The trio already knew each other and how to win.
New York took a gamble with adding players from a specific college team, and it was new to the NBA. The Wings did the same thing with pairing Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers. Both were drafted number one overall in the WNBA Draft after the duo starred at UConn.
In the 2024-25 season, Fudd and Bueckers won the National Championship under Geno Auriemma in the third season Fudd and Bueckers played together.
UConn lost 15 games during that three-year run. In comparison, the Wings have lost 65 games combined over the last two seasons as well as not being in the playoffs since 2023.
You might call Bueckers the Jalen Brunson of this iteration of the Wings. She is becoming one of the best players in the WNBA, just like Brunson in his ascendancy.
It is not as easy to compare Fudd to one of the other Villanova players because she is still navigating through her rookie season. Fudd has shown glimpses, but she is not a finished product like Bridges and Hart were when they joined Brunson in New York. But the flashes Fudd shows portend big things — she could end up being much more than a role player.
While the Nova Knicks were important to the championship run, OG Anunoby and Karl Anthony Towns were added to the roster and were important pieces to help New York break its 53-year drought. New York also changed coaches.
The Wings understood the roster needed work and brought Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smith to Dallas. They also hired a new coach. Jose Fernandez has installed an exciting offense in his first year with the team that seems to be addressing the team’s lack of 3-point shooting in the prior two seasons.
Shepard is off to a record start, while Smith has started slowly. The roster will most likely need more changes for Dallas to compete in the playoffs and eventually win a championship. It took a while for the Nova Knicks, but the UConn guards are already impacting Dallas with a strong start to the season. Time will tell if the Wings can replicate the Knicks’ success.
