The New York Knicks lifted the NBA Cup with a 124-113 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, winning the franchise's first trophy since 1973.
But the Knicks have reportedly decided not to hang a banner in Madison Square Garden to commemorate the honor, according to multiple reports.
New York do not want to diminish the accomplishment, but instead have their sights set on winning the NBA Championship in June, according to reports. They will celebrate the victory prior to their next home game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
Following the final, Knicks head coach Mike Brown admitted he was motivated by the idea of raising another banner to the MSG rafters.
"There's a lot of positives about it," Brown said in the aftermath. "But the most positive is being able to hang a banner up in MSG, the most iconic arena in the league."
The players were largely indifferent about the issue themselves, preferring to celebrate the win for the night and then shift their focus back to the grind of the regular season.
"I don't think we're having a parade," he said. "We're going to enjoy this. But once we leave tomorrow, we're moving on."
New York travels to Indiana to take on the Pacers on Thursday.
The only other teams to win the NBA Cup — the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks — both raised a banner to commemorate the title, but there are no league rules that force teams to do so.
The last banner the Knicks raised to the MSG rafters was in 1999, after claiming the Eastern Conference title that season. They would eventually lose the NBA Finals to the Spurs.
The Knicks entered the fourth quarter down by five, but quickly turned things around and eventually outscored the Spurs by 16 points in the final frame.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 28 points, including some clutch three-pointers to put the game away, but Jalen Brunson took home NBA Cup MVP honors after a 25-point, eight-assist performance.
Victor Wembanyama was limited to just under 25 minutes of game time after recently returning from a calf injury, scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds. Dylan Harper led San Antonio in scoring with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting off the bench.
The Knicks currently occupy second place in the Eastern Conference with an 18-7 record, 2.5 games back of the Detroit Pistons.
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