"It Could Be Another 53 Years": Kevin Durant Issues Championship Warning to Jalen Brunson & Knicks

Credits – Imagn ©Credits – ImagnBecky Hammon and Stephen A. Smith had to eat their words, and so did everyone else who wrote this team off. Jalen Brunson made sure of that.

But winning doesn’t silence everybody- there’s always a corner of the internet that can’t just let a moment breathe, and this one’s no different. The 53-year wait is over, the trophy’s in New York, and somehow the discourse has already moved on to reasons it might not last.Kevin Durant didn’t waste any time getting there first.

Fresh off the Knicks’ championship run, KD sat down and went straight at Brunson with a warning that’s hard to ignore regardless of how you feel about the messenger.“I would tell him to strike while the iron’s hot,” Durant said in a sit-down with Wall Street Journal during his recent trip to Cannes, France. “This is a time that I don’t think New Yorkers or the Knicks are gonna get back.

You gotta take advantage of this time right now, you don’t know if this will come around. It’s been 53 years. It could be another 53-year wait.”

On one hand, maybe KD’s just being real, a title defense is a completely different animal than ending a 53-year nightmare. But Knicks fans aren’t exactly reading it that way. To them, it landed like a backhanded compliment with just enough edge to sting.

Durant didn’t just fire a warning shot, he genuinely bigged up Brunson in the same breath.“I would say take all opportunities, listen to them and see which ones you love. I think Jalen has done such a great job of being him every single day and stepping up.

His identity is just about grinding from the bottom and being somebody in New York City who made history in New York City. Right now is an important time for him and the Knicks and I feel like he’s gonna take full advantage of it.”Still, the fanbase isn’t buying the benevolent elder statesman routine.

A chunk of them think this is residual guilt or worse, regret from turning the Knicks down flat in 2019.The 2x Finals MVP has watched enough title w