Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks were crowned the best team in sports, but Josh Hart was still made the butt of the joke.
The Knicks wrapped up their stellar year with a celebratory evening at the 2026 ESPYs, where they took home several awards, with Jalen Brunson earning several plaudits.
But the biggest accolade came when the Knicks were crowned the best sports team. And as a best friend would, Jalen Brunson took the chance to poke fun at Josh Hart.
Jalen Brunson thanks ESPYs for revoking Josh Hart’s invite
As the New York Knicks won the ESPY for the best sports team, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson immediately took a chance to thank ESPN for not letting Josh Hart attend the ceremony.
After the quick exchange, Karl-Anthony Towns gave a heartfelt speech about winning the championship for the Knicks and the city of New York.
Karl-Anthony Towns: “Thank you so much. You may see someone is missing up here.”
Jalen Brunson: “We want to say thank you to the ESPYs for pulling Josh Hart’s invite.”
KAT: “Thank you, we appreciate you, ESPYs, so much. I’ll say thank y’all from all my teammates. Especially in New York, getting this trophy shows the world love.
“The love of each other and this team is what got us through the humps in December when we weren’t playing our best basketball. The love from the fans is what got us back down 29 at home.
“Also, I think this award shows the love of New York, because the love of New York made this whole journey and this whole accomplishment of winning a championship worth it.
“Thank you, New York. Thank you to the fans. Thank you to the organization for giving us this chance and for believing in us. Shoutout and always, Knicks in five!”
New York Knicks have achieved their goal in the 2020s
At the start of the 2020s, the New York Knicks took accountability for their disappointing run over the last two decades and decided to make some changes.
Leon Rose and William Wesley were brought in to run the team, and over the years, they managed to build a championship contender.
The signing of Jalen Brunson, and trading for Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns over the last four years helped lay the foundation for them to finally lift the Larry O’Brien trophy.
But surely, the Knicks will not be satisfied with just one championship win, as they will look to become the first NBA champions in eight years to go back-to-back.
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