The 2026 New York Knicks are not just NBA Champions.

They are creating a cultural vibe shift: Advantages no longer accrue to the worst among us.

Leading with, and accepting, a flawed goodness and decency makes us vulnerable in the best way and is an opening for acceptance, community and belonging. The Knicks know their shadows and they don’t hide them. They use their pain to give them strength and they accept and love each other even when they fail.

It’s the beginning of the end of Trumpism and the veneration of terrible people. It is, in other words, the end of The Asshole.