Brian Windhorst reveals how Kevin Durant joining Nets led to Knicks’ championship

Built, not bought. That is how many have described the long-awaited championship of the New York Knicks. They proved that it does not take a collection of superstars to achieve success, but a group of individuals finding cohesion and buying into a singular goal.

The core of the Knicks—Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges—was formed piece by piece over the years like a puzzle.

Knicks general manager Leon Rose should be given a lot of credit for that. Since he was hired in 2020 despite not having any experience running a team, the longtime agent has made the right bets.

But for ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, it is worth noting that even before Rose came on board, there was another factor for the Knicks’ resurgence: Kevin Durant.

“Here’s sort of the order of things if I look from 30,000 feet and sort of sketch it. The Knicks were banking everything on getting Kevin Durant in 2019. He didn’t come, and then later basically said the Knicks were uncool,” said Windhorst on “The Schrager Hour.”

“The idea that would be said was a gut punch to Jim Dolan. So he went out and hired the combination of Leon Rose and Wes Wesley. One of them is the savvy negotiator, dealmaker, and one of them is the relationship guy with players.”

When Kevin Durant went to Brooklyn in 2019, it forced Jim Dolan to tear it all down and consider a new, unorthodox approach to rebuilding the Knicks. He hired Leon Rose, an agent at CAA, and he gave him and William Wesley the keys to the castle.

Here's @WindhorstESPN on my pod. pic.twitter.com/O6CFuLIlyz

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) June 17, 2026

Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets, teaming up with Kyrie Irving.

Rose, meanhwhile, did not have to look far for talent. He signed his clients, Brunson, Towns, Hart, and Anunoby. While it is easy to say that it was favoritism, Windhorst called it “intelligence.”

He said Rose already knew them well, and he had enough vision to see that they would play well together, while also ensuring the Knicks’ financial flexibility.

“The secret sauce was Jim Dolan, believe it or not, understanding, ‘I got to get a different type of executive because it’s not working.’ And then those executives leveraging what they knew,” added Windhorst.

The rest is history, as they say. Isn’t that cool, KD?

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