Steve Popper: As other teams chased superstars, the Knicks built a cohesive unit much like 1970 and 1973

The list is seemingly endless.

There was LeBron James, breaking hearts in New York City when he announced The Decision, leaving the Knicks in his wake as he took his talents to South Beach. There was Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving opting to sign across the river in Brooklyn and Durant murmuring that the Knicks were no longer cool. Kawhi Leonard never sat down with the Knicks executives. Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t be obtained.

The Knicks spent decades chasing stars, a futile effort that exposed the dysfunctional state of the organization before finally, after Leon Rose took over as team president, the strategy shifted. The immediate thought was that Rose, who had spent his career as the most powerful agent in basketball, would use those connections to finally land the biggest names in the game at Madison Square Garden.

But Rose had another idea. He asked for patience and now, six years later, it’s hard to remember just how patient fans had to be at the start. His first move was to name Tom Thibodeau as the head coach, a decision that would bring professionalism, a work ethic and fire to a team that was in desperate need of it. But it’s hard to remember that Rose shuffled pieces on and off the roster, clearing cap space, setting up a future with — honestly it’s hard to count — about a dozen trades, at least 30 signings of draft picks, 10-day contracts and veterans, before he finally made the move he’d been seeking.

Rose cleared the deck for a player that was not a first-round pick, not an All-Star, not even a starter, but a player he knew better than anyone, when he signed Jalen Brunson to a four-year, $104 million contract in the summer of 2022.

It was the signature move, one that would be followed by a contract extension agreed to by Brunson when he left $113 million on the table allowing the Knicks to make a series of moves that would put this championship team together. Rose methodically built a starting five and it wasn’t until the last piece that a player who had been an All-Star entered the locker room — Karl-Anthony Towns.

As the Knicks celebrated late into the night Saturday (and apparently all the way into Monday) with the first parade in franchise history coming Thursday to honor the team that brought the franchise its first NBA title in 53 years, you’ll remember those images forever. It was the jubilation, the victory cigars puffed on and champagne sprayed, the tears and the joy.

And maybe you’ll recall the images of the first team in Knicks history to win a title and see it was a throwback to the team that served as a blueprint rather than the NBA’s star-hunting system of max contracts and superstar statistics.

While that 1970 championship team’s entire starting lineup now resides in the Hall of Fame and have jerseys hanging in the rafters at the Garden, they weren’t built on superstars. Dick Barnett and Bill Bradley were just one-time All-Stars in their career. Just as the Knicks had to adjust to roles and styles, in their time there was controversy over Bradley’s arrival after his studies at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship were done, displacing Cazzie Russell in the starting lineup.

There were unsung heroes. It wasn’t just Walt Frazier putting on a historic performance in the series-clinching seventh game against the Lakers after Willis Reed hobbled onto the court, it was 6-6 Dave DeBusschere and 6-7 Dave Stallworth taking turns guarding the dominant giant, Wilt Chamberlain, in Game 5 when Reed was injured and pulling out a win. You can compare those to Brunson’s heroics in Game 5 this time or Jose Alvarado’s exploits in the series as an unsung hero or OG Anunoby’s iconic tip-in in Game 4.

If that team was a David slaying Goliath in Chamberlain, this team did it again with the 6-2 everyman, Brunson, defeating the 7-4 face of the league, Victor Wembanyama. Even before Reed was injured, he was the undersized center battling against the player who’d shattered records in Chamberlain, known as much as the captain as he was for his statistics.

Those Knicks championship squads of the 70s remain etched into the hearts of the fan base, not because they had a Michael Jordan or LeBron James, but because they melded into a team that inspired books detailing the unselfish nature of the team.

And maybe it took more than 50 years, but this Knicks team was built in much the same fashion, a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps with the spotlight of the NBA Finals run, the circuit of television appearances that followed and the parade to come Thursday this group will create a few more All-Stars. Anunoby might be noticed for his defensive prowess. Josh Hart might be recognized for his work as a connector and a do-it-all worker.

But even if they never get the acclaim, they have the championship trophy that they are carrying around the city now. That’s what the 1970 squad is remembered for, too. It’s hard to realize in the moment, but there are no questions about the Knicks buying a title or stars flocking to the Garden to shine in the spotlight, just a team built for the ages.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.