You have to get off the bus knowing you'll win. Otherwise, don't get on the bus in the first place.
Close behind is Rule No. 2, which states: "Never do what the other team wants you to do." You should never make a move after which the other team says "yes, that's perfect for us."
Had the San Antonio Spurs followed Rule No. 2, then they would be celebrating an NBA championship right now. Actually, they would have celebrated it a few days ago, since they would have won the series in four games, instead of losing in five to the New York Knicks, who ended the series Saturday night with a 94-90 win to win their first title in 53 years.
What was the practical application of Rule No. 2 in this series? Every time Victor Wembanyama launched a three-point shot, every New York Knick said "yes, that's perfect for us."
In the five games of the Finals, the 7-4 Wembanyama was 44 for 103 from the field. Broken down by kind of shots he took, he was 9 for 33 from three-point range (27.3 percent) and 35 for 70 from two-point range. Nearly one-third of his shots were threes.
It's worse in the four games the Knicks won, where Wemby was 7 for 29 from three (24.1). Did you watch the games? He was nearly unstoppable around the basket and way more "miss" than "hit" from outside the arc. Also, when he was that far from the basket, he took himself completely out of position for any offensive rebounds.
Given that the Knicks won their four games by 10, one, one and four — and that the Knicks trailed by double figures in every game — San Antonio would have rolled had it traded a few of those three attempts by Wemby for, TigerBlog might suggest, a post-up every now and then? Maybe a few more drives to the hoop?
But no. Not in the way the NBA is played these days. For the five games, there were 859 field goals attempted, of which 386 were threes. That's 45 percent of all shots attempted.
Of course, there was the otherworldly Game 5 effort from New York's Jalen Brunson, who scored 45 of his team's points Saturday night. Everyone else combined for 49 points. Brunson was unstoppable as he willed his team back from another huge second-half deficit to close out the series.
If you heard him speak afterwards, you could see how genuine his emotions were, especially with his father Rick as a Knick assistant coach. It was heartwarming.
If you watched the broadcast from the start, you saw a familiar face holding her phone and following the team around. That person was McKayla Tyrrell, who is the Knicks' manager of digital content.
Why is she familiar? Because of her time as a student manager for the Princeton men's basketball team before graduating in 2020.
From student manager to working for the champs. 🏆
— Princeton Men’s Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) June 14, 2026
Congratulations to @nyknicks Manager of Digital Content McKayla Tyrrell '20 on providing championship level coverage for the 2025-26 NBA champions all season long!
The Tigers have known how talented, creative and dedicated she… pic.twitter.com/zITJj0ihep
This graphic went up shortly after the game ended. Even as it was being posted, you could see MyKayla as she ran around the court and the stage that was set up, capturing content for the team.
You could also see her before the game ever started, when she followed the team onto the court. Just as the three-pointer has embedded itself in the NBA game like never before, so too has the need for exactly what it is that McKayla does — digital content creation.
When the NBA championship rings are given out, there will be one with the name "Tyrrell" on it. Just as there should be. She's certainly earned hers. She's been there with the team, home and away, game days and off days, chronicling it all.
Her payoff, like everyone else in the organization, came courtesy of Jalen Brunson — and the Spurs failure to follow Rule No. 2.
Congrats to McKayla. It's always great to see Princeton Athletics be part of something like what the Knicks just accomplished.
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