New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) rebounds as San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle defends during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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OG paused for a second as he sat in a room full of media when asked about what was going through his mind, after the Knicks broke a 53-year NBA Championship drought. Unlike his first title with the Raptors where he didn’t take the floor on that run due to a ruptured appendix, he was one of the major catalysts that helped claim this championship. It had been nine years in the making, but Anunoby finally got his chance to be the player everyone knew he could be.
“We did it. You know, that was our goal from the start in September in Abu Dhabi. We went through a lot this season, a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “But we just stayed with it.”
That word resilient was used three times by Anunoby during his three-minute post-match presser. It was a word used all through the season by NBA analysts when they were searching for words to describe the Knicks. And you heard it all through their Championship run. They were a team that just wouldn’t quit. It’s no surprise then that Anunoby found himself on this roster – a gritty, team-first squad with self belief.
Some think of Anunoby’s career arc as this great turnaround or view him as an unlikely talent that came from nowhere, but if you look closer he’s always been there. He just didn’t have the stage, ego, or right opportunity to showcase what he’s built for himself as a player. In 17 playoff games we got to witness the full Anunoby experience where he averaged career highs: 20.1 points, shooting at 56.1 percent from the field and 48.9 percent for three. At the other end of the floor, he was anchoring the defense, making clutch blocks, and making reads.
In his ninth season, his fifth coach, and on his second franchise, Anunoby’s journey brought him to Manhattan, where the Knicks were on the verge of an historic run. Once a 23rd-overall draft pick defined by what he couldn’t yet do on offense, Saturday night in San Antonio wasn’t an arrival for Anunoby. He didn’t change who he was; he finally got the stage to show what he was always built for.
“We’re resilient, mentally tough, and we won,” the 28-year-old said. “Whenever someone tells you you can’t do something, that’s when you can.”
When Toronto drafted OG Anunoby in 2017, scouts and analysts found a lot of different ways to describe him. Gym rat. Corner shooter. Prototypical modern frame. Then came the critique. He needs work on his mid-range, needs work on his handle. The words everyone agreed on, though — the one that cut through every qualifier — were pure freak. Whatever else he was or wasn’t, the athleticism was real. Even from the start of his career, what he’s become today, was always there. You just had to be paying attention.
The Three Career Moments That Defined Anunoby
I was in Cleveland for Game 3 of the 2018 Conference Semi-Finals. The Raptors fell behind by 17. Dwane Casey pulled a struggling DeMar DeRozan – who’d shot 25 percent from the field – for the entire fourth quarter. Anunoby scored 11 points in that quarter, including three triples. He looked completely unfazed at the gravity of the situation. His last triple tied the game with eight seconds left. LeBron James caught the inbound, ran the floor, and banked a two at the buzzer. Quicken Loans Arena lost its mind.
Two years later, in the 2020 Bubble, he did it again in Game 3 against the Celtics in the Conference Semi-Finals. Anunoby caught a crosscourt pass from Kyle Lowry, and drained a triple with half a second on the clock. He is mobbed by his teammates. The Raptors won.
And then, six years after that, he tipped in the shot that put the Knicks one win from a championship.
These were three epic moments spread out over the entirety of his career. The occasions got bigger; Anunoby kept showing up.
His Knicks have embraced him from day one. Karl Anthony-Towns told the media earlier this year that Anunoby is one of the best two-way players in the NBA and that he’s been able to show the world, on a big stage, something they’ve always known he possessed. Jalen Brunson once called Anunoby one of a kind. “Getting to see his work ethic and see the person he is, and then what he’s just been able to do with his time as a Knick, has been great. I’m so happy to have him.”
What’s most admirable is that Anunoby improved in ways that don’t necessarily generate big headlines. Like most players in the league, he spends his summers working on the mechanics of his shot. He upgraded from consistent disruptor to an elite defender. While some NBA stars like to document their progress via a media team, his existed in the fine details we got to see on the court this year: his long range technique, playmaking reads and shooting off the dribble. It’s been incremental progress. He did it without the fanfare.
In the NBA we often learn about overnight success after a single isolated moment. Maybe a half-court sling. It gets plastered all over social media which fuels NBA analyst commentary and late night highlight reels. I get it. Clicks sell. It’s much harder to get excited about a player’s journey that moves forward in small meaningful ways gradually over time. But this is why Anunoby keeps hitting game winners and stepping up in critical moments. It’s not a fluke. It’s a pattern.
“I’m making an emphasis on coming in and crashing the boards to help the team finish possessions,”Anunoby said after a 22 point night against Atlanta in Game 4 in late April. “You know, I work very hard on my game. So I always think it’s going in.”
Anunoby Is Redefining What Resilience Looks Like
Thinking about Anunoby’s path to the NBA Championship, the obstacles have been aplenty. He’s had to cope with the loss of both of his parents – his mum when he was a one-year-old, and his Dad in 2018. He’s recovered from an ACL injury, a ruptured appendix, a fractured finger, and severe calf and hip setbacks. There was also the gruelling elbow surgery that forced him to miss 18 games when he first joined the Knicks.
Kawhi Leonard is the closest player I can think of that Anunoby identifies with. Both have a goofy, quirky, personality and are devoid of ego. Both possess elite two-way tools. Both have had to battle through complex injury recoveries. And both are far from the loudest players in the locker room; they just play basketball and let the outcomes talk. Most players who are physically gifted either get overwhelmed in the moment or they get consumed by their injuries. Anunoby is neither, and that’s rare.
What separates Anunoby from Kawhi is his doggedness. In the modern NBA, the word resilient can be tossed around like a buzzword, especially on socials. It’s an easy narrative for athletes to cling to, to prove they are moving through their own version of the struggle. But for someone like Anunoby, who’s felt real tragedy and has had to navigate harsh real-life obstacles, his staying power is not a curated online brand. He’s developed his own meaning of resilience because it’s never been about keeping up with what other players say or do. Much like his basketball feats, he’s found a method rooted in quiet continuity.
Looking at the Raptors-Knicks trade now, Anunoby’s New York arrival was serendipitous. A year later or a year earlier might have fundamentally shifted his offensive game. He was exactly what the Knicks needed at a time when he was ready to be wreaking havoc at both ends of the floor. The Knicks don’t win the championship without Anunoby and Anunoby doesn’t get a title without the Knicks. Not only did the team’s identity make it easy for Anunoby to gel, he became a key cog in defining it.
This season Mike Brown called Anunoby an All-Star. When asked about his transition as a Knick, Brown explained that the true impact he’s having doesn’t always show up on the stats sheet. “We need him, and he’s definitely been about as consistent as you’d hope and expect. And we need every ounce of his consistency,” he told the media.
But this title belongs to Anunoby because of everything that has happened before this moment. He crawled, pushed and pulled his way through the tunnel and when he got out he was left holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy. It’s a lesson in what real resilience looks like.
It was only fitting that Anunoby had the ball in his hand when the final buzzer sounded. When asked by reporters how many times he was going to rewatch the tape of his spectacular, legacy-defining Game 4 bucket, Anunoby said he was proud of it but “right now I’m just going to be celebrating with my teammates.”