Karl-Anthony Towns tried to explain it to OG Anunoby. He tried to tell him where the right hand belonged now, how one tip-in with 2.1 seconds left had already started traveling through New York sports memory, how a play can leave a player’s fingertips and belong to a city before the series is even over.
Anunoby, naturally, gave him almost nothing.
“I tried to explain it to him,” Towns said Friday, “but you know OG barely gives you any reaction. So, I don’t know if he’s understanding it or not.”
Towns understood the gravity of the moment well enough for both of them.
“The right hand of God, right hand of God,” he said. “And you can’t spell ‘God’ without ‘OG.’”
The Knicks are one win from their first championship since 1973. Anunoby’s play is already famous. Saturday can decide whether it lasts. His tip-in did more than give the Knicks a 107-106 Game 4 win over the San Antonio Spurs. It gave New York a new phrase, one stretched across basketball, soccer, borough politics and championship longing.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal proclaimed June 11, 2026, as OG Anunoby Appreciation Day in the Borough of Manhattan. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the forward had the greatest outstretched hand since Diego Maradona, tying Anunoby’s right hand to Maradona’s Hand of God 40 years later.
The phrase tied Anunoby’s tip-in to soccer’s past. The calendar tied it to New York’s present. On Saturday, New York and New Jersey will host World Cup soccer. That same night, the Knicks will play for the championship in San Antonio.
Before the mythology, though, Knicks head coach Mike Brown demanded more from the 28-year-old.
“I challenged a lot of our guys today, and OG was one of the guys I challenged,” Brown said after Game 4. “I told OG, as big, as strong, as athletic as he is, he’s got to be a monster on the offensive glass tonight.”
Anunoby did exactly what his coach asked. He inbounded the ball to Jalen Brunson, watched Brunson get to his spot and moved. He was uncovered. Nobody blocked him out. He went for what he first thought might be a tip dunk. The ball sailed too high. So, he adjusted and tapped it in.
“I tried to tip it in softly and it went in,” Anunoby said.
Towns, who grew up a Knicks fan in the New York area, already sees where the play could sit if the Knicks finish this series. He mentioned Derek Jeter. He mentioned Plaxico Burress. He mentioned David Tyree. In his mind, Anunoby’s tip-in already belongs near plays New Yorkers pass down by nickname, replay and disbelief.
“It’s going to be up there with some of the greatest moments in New York sports history,” Towns said. “But we’ve got to solidify it with one more win.”
Anunoby has handled the attention the way he handles almost everything else. No performance. No excess. No need to prove he feels the weight everyone else is putting on him. He called the reaction “really cool.” He called the proclamation “amazing” and “special.” When shown a photo connecting his play to Maradona, he called it “ironic and iconic.”
When asked Friday what OG Anunoby Appreciation Day meant to him, Anunoby stayed in character.
Everyone else is reaching for history. He’s shrugging inside it.
“It’s amazing. It’s really cool. It’s really exciting,” he said. “Yeah, it’s just special.”
One more win would end 53 years of waiting. One more win would make Anunoby’s tip-in part of the championship’s origin story.
New York has already named the play. The Knicks can still make sure it doesn’t fade
“We’ve got to solidify it with one more win,” Towns said.
