What’s most admirable is that Anunoby improved in ways that don’t necessarily generate big headlines. Like most players in the league, he spends his summers working on the mechanics of his shot. He upgraded from consistent disruptor to an elite defender. While some NBA stars like to document their progress via a media team, his existed in the fine details we got to see on the court this year: his long range technique, playmaking reads and shooting off the dribble. It’s been incremental progress. He did it without the fanfare.

In the NBA we often learn about overnight success after a single isolated moment. Maybe a half-court sling. It gets plastered all over social media which fuels NBA analyst commentary and late night highlight reels. I get it. Clicks sell. It’s much harder to get excited about a player’s journey that moves forward in small meaningful ways gradually over time. But this is why Anunoby keeps hitting game winners and stepping up in critical moments. It’s not a fluke. It’s a pattern.

“I’m making an emphasis on coming in and crashing the boards to help the team finish possessions,”Anunoby

after a 22 point night against Atlanta in Game 4 in late April. “You know, I work very hard on my game. So I always think it’s going in.”

Thinking about Anunoby’s path to the NBA Championship, the obstacles have been aplenty. He’s had to cope with the loss of both of his parents – his mum when he was a one-year-old, and his Dad in 2018. He’s recovered from an ACL injury, a ruptured appendix, a fractured finger, and severe calf and hip setbacks. There was also the gruelling elbow surgery that forced him to miss 18 games when he first joined the Knicks.

Kawhi Leonard is the closest player I can think of that Anunoby identifies with. Both have a

,

, personality and are devoid of ego. Both possess elite two-way tools. Both have had to battle through complex injury recoveries. And both are far from the loudest players in the locker room; they just play basketball and let the outcomes talk. Most players who are physically gifted either get overwhelmed in the moment or they get consumed by their injuries. Anunoby is neither, and that’s rare.

What separates Anunoby from Kawhi is his doggedness. In the modern NBA, the word resilient can be tossed around like a buzzword, especially on socials. It’s an easy narrative for athletes to cling to, to prove they are moving through their own version of the struggle. But for someone like Anunoby, who’s felt real tragedy and has had to navigate harsh real-life obstacles, his staying power is not a curated online brand. He’s developed his own meaning of resilience because it’s never been about keeping up with what other players say or do. Much like his basketball feats, he’s found a method rooted in quiet continuity.

Looking at the Raptors-Knicks trade now, Anunoby’s New York arrival was serendipitous. A year later or a year earlier might have fundamentally shifted his offensive game. He was exactly what the Knicks needed at a time when he was ready to be wreaking havoc at both ends of the floor. The Knicks don’t win the championship without Anunoby and Anunoby doesn’t get a title without the Knicks. Not only did the team’s identity make it easy for Anunoby to gel, he became a key cog in defining it.