I moved to New York in 1999. The Knicks were in the NBA Finals that year. I thought that was just how it worked. You live here, your team competes. Simple.
I was 22. I did not know what was coming.
27 years. That is how long the drought lasted.
#The Dolan Years
James Dolan ran the Knicks into the ground. Not because he was evil. Because he was impatient, meddled constantly, hired friends, fired competent people, and treated a basketball team like a vanity project.
Every bad hire I have ever seen in tech follows the same pattern. Someone who cannot evaluate talent makes decisions based on ego instead of evidence. Bad contracts, misaligned incentives, and a product that does not deliver.
We cycled through stars who were supposed to save us. Stephon Marbury. Carmelo Anthony. Kristaps Porzingis. Each one arrived with hype, delivered flashes, and left without a ring. Not because they were bad players. Because superstars cannot fix a broken system.
#The Brunson Lesson
Jalen Brunson was a second-round pick. The Mavericks let him walk. He is 6’2” and not the fastest guy on the floor. By every scouting report, he should be a solid rotation player, not a franchise cornerstone.
He is now the best Knick since Patrick Ewing.
Brunson with the Larry O’Brien Trophy after leading the Knicks to their first title since 1973.
Brunson understands that winning is not about individual brilliance. It is about fit, system, and doing the right thing every possession. He does not take plays off, he does not blame his teammates, and he makes everyone around him better.
I think about that every time I set up an agent fleet. Reliable, not flashy.
#The Mets Are Teaching Me the Same Thing
I am a Mets fan too. Which means I have lived through the same cycle. Ownership that did not know what it was doing. Big free agent signings that did not work. Years of mediocrity.
Now, with Steve Cohen and Juan Soto and a manager who understands modern baseball, the Mets look like a real organization for the first time in my adult life.
The common thread is not the money. It is the system. Get the right people in place, give them room to work, and get out of their way.
#What This Means for AI and Business
Every team I have seen struggle with AI adoption makes the same mistake the Knicks made for 20 years. They chase the shiny thing instead of building the system.
They ask “which model is best?” instead of “how do we build a reliable feedback loop?” They hire a chief AI officer without fixing the data pipeline. They buy the tool without training the team.
Brunson is the model you want. Not the most expensive. Not the one with the flashiest resume. The one who fits your system and makes everyone else better.
#The Point
If you are building something right now and it feels like the drought will never end, I get it. I have been there for 27 years as a Knicks fan and 15 years as a Mets fan.
Brunson was a second-round pick. Nobody expected this. He just kept showing up, running the system, and making the people around him better. Eventually that adds up to something real.
The teams that figure out how to build real AI systems, not just bolt on chatbots, are going to have their own Brunson moment. You cannot shortcut the process. You can only shorten it by being more deliberate about every decision.
Stop waiting for a superstar. Build the system. Trust the process.
The Knicks celebrate their first NBA championship in 53 years. 27 years of drought, ended by a second-round pick who just kept showing up.
Let’s go.