The Knicks take over Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show too
The New York Knicks brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Between stories, laughs, and tributes, Fallon even retired one of his sneakers that had become an unlikely symbol of the team’s championship run
The celebration continues for the New York Knicks. After capturing their first NBA championship since 1973 by defeating the San Antonio Spurs in five games, Mike Brown’s team appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for an evening filled with emotion, memorable stories, and plenty of humor.
The entire roster took the stage, with Jalen Brunson making his entrance carrying the Larry O’Brien Trophy as confetti and applause welcomed the newly crowned NBA champions. Fallon, a lifelong Knicks fan, greeted the group by calling them “the comeback team, a team destined to make history.”
Jimmy Fallon and Brunson’s promise
For Fallon, the night was also an opportunity to revisit a promise Brunson made during a previous appearance on the show in 2024.
The last time you were here, I asked if you’d bring the trophy back when the Knicks won a championship. You kept your word
Jimmy Fallon
Brunson admitted that fully processing what happened still hasn’t been easy.
I don’t know if it’s really going to sink in for a while. We went through everything together as a team and found a way to win. It was absolutely worth it
Jimmy Fallon
Fallon’s sneaker becomes a Knicks relic
One of the funniest moments of the night centered around a shoe that had somehow become a playoff good-luck charm for Fallon.
It all started when Josh Hart, during a game Fallon attended courtside at Madison Square Garden, stopped to untie one of the host’s shoes while heading back to the bench. The prank continued several times afterward – and the Knicks kept winning.
Every time I came to a game, I kept untying my shoe
Jimmy Fallon
Hart explained that the running joke happened almost by accident.
When I’m on the court, I’m locked in. But when I come out, I like to have some fun. I saw him sitting there and thought, you know what? Let’s mess with Jimmy
Josh Hart
To celebrate the championship, Fallon had the sneaker signed by the entire team and asked Hart to be the final player to add his autograph. Moments later, the shoe was raised to the ceiling of Rockefeller Center’s studio as if it were a retired jersey.
It’ll live up there forever
Jimmy Fallon
Naturally, Hart couldn’t resist one last joke, untying Fallon’s shoe again just as the keepsake was being lifted into the rafters.
Fallon revisits OG Anunoby’s historic basket
The show also took time to relive the play that may have changed the course of the Finals. Fallon replayed OG Anunoby’s game-winning putback in Game 4, the basket that completed New York’s stunning 29-point comeback and gave the Knicks a 3-1 series lead.
That has to be one of the greatest plays in sports history
Jimmy Fallon
Fallon also recalled Anunoby’s famously understated postgame reaction.
You had just finished one of the most incredible games ever, and when they asked how you felt, you said, ‘It was nice’
Jimmy Fallon
Anunoby’s response stayed perfectly in character.
It was nice. It was really nice. Wasn’t it nice?
OG Anunoby
Towns gets Emotional, Villanova Knicks exchange jokes
Karl-Anthony Towns was also one of the stars of the evening, bringing the trophy into the audience and encouraging fans to touch it. The Knicks big man reflected on his first appearance on The Tonight Show in 2015, shortly after being drafted into the NBA, when his mother was in attendance.
It’s incredible to be back here. She was sitting in the audience and had a special relationship with Jimmy. Coming back today with an NBA championship trophy in my hands means I accomplished what I dreamed about when I entered the league
Karl-Anthony Towns
The former Villanova teammates also found time to roast one another. When Fallon asked Mikal Bridges what it was like spending his college years alongside Brunson and Hart, his answer drew laughter throughout the studio.
You want the truth? Josh was a bully. After that phase, though, we became really good friends
Mikal Bridges
A celebration that becomes part of Knicks history
After 53 years of waiting, New York is savoring every moment of its return to the top of the NBA. Between bringing the trophy to television, Fallon’s “retired” sneaker, and memories of the historic Game 4 comeback, The Tonight Show became yet another chapter in a season Knicks fans will never forget.
And while a 2026 NBA Championship banner will soon be raised inside Madison Square Garden, another piece of Knicks history is already hanging from a ceiling across town: the legendary “Tonight Shoe.”