The Knicks snapped their 53-year title drought. For the NYC area's other teams, the anguish continues.
It felt like it took forever, but the New York Knicks finally captured their first championship in 53 years when they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals on Saturday night.
The victory was equally stunning and vitally important because it marked the first title for a major North American sports league franchise based in the New York City area since the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5, 2012.
While the Knicks are now the toast of the town for the first time since 1973, the other sports teams that call the metropolitan area home are each in the throes of a long championship drought.
You may want to avert your eyes for some of these.
New York Jets (57 years)
Even if the Knicks had not worked their magic this season, the Jets would still be the standard-bearer for championship futility, having now gone 57 years since they last won an NFL championship. Joe Namath remains the most revered figure in franchise history because he was the quarterback of the Super Bowl III team that beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts 16-7 on Jan. 12, 1969.
The Jets have flirted with immortality since, advancing to -- and losing in painstaking fashion -- the AFC championship game at the conclusion of the 1982, 1998, 2010 and 2011 seasons.
Currently, the Jets hold the longest active playoff drought in the four major North American pro sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL), having missed the postseason for 15 consecutive seasons.
Brooklyn Nets (50 years)
The Nets would be considered something of a Jets equal historically had they not won the American Basketball Association championship in 1973-74 and 1975-76.
Since the ABA-NBA merger prior to the start of the 1976-77 season, the Nets have appeared in the NBA Finals twice, losing in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
The Nets have relocated as a franchise four times. They were first known as the New Jersey Americans in 1967-68, but became the New York Nets the following season and played on Long Island. They became the New Jersey Nets in 1977 and then the Brooklyn Nets in 2012. Though the name may have changed somewhat, the losing has mostly remained.
New York Islanders (43 years)
The Islanders won the last of their four consecutive Stanley Cups in 1983. Their famed "Drive for Five" in a row ended in the Cup Final the following season at the hands of a guy named Wayne Gretzky and his teammates on the Edmonton Oilers.
Their 19 consecutive playoff series victories from 1980-84 remains a record among North American pro sports leagues.
But the Isles have had mixed results since, including two long stretches of failing to qualify for the playoffs (1994-2001 and 2007-12) and runs to the Eastern Conference finals in 1993, 2020 and 2021.
New York Mets (39 years)
Everyone by now knows the story of the 1969 "Miracle Mets" and the miracle the Mets pulled off in 1986, but their run of championship futility could soon reach 40 years.
They're currently in last place in the NL East, despite one of the highest payrolls in baseball.
The Mets have been to the World Series five times in their history, including a seven-game loss to the Oakland Athletics in 1973, but in their two most recent appearances, 2000 and 2015, they lost to the Yankees and Kansas City Royals, respectively.
New York Rangers (32 years)
To many, 1994 still seems like yesterday, mostly because it took more than five decades for the Rangers to finally win the Stanley Cup. But in the 32 years since, they really only have a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Cup Final to hang their hats on.
The Blueshirts made it to the Eastern Conference finals in 2023-24, but have missed the playoffs the last two seasons.
The Rangers remain a premier franchise in the NHL, a destination if you will, but the reality is they have won one championship in 86 years.
New Jersey Devils (23 years)
The Devils are often overlooked due to the intensity of the Islanders-Rangers rivalry and each team's well-documented history, but they have three more Stanley Cup championships since the last time either of the New York teams won one.
Their problem is they haven't hoisted the Cup in 23 years and last appeared in the Final in 2012, a six-game loss to the Kings.
The Devils have since missed the playoffs in 11 of 14 seasons, including this past season.
New York Yankees (16 years)
With a record 27 world championships and 41 American League pennants, the Yankees are expected to at the very least challenge for the World Series title every season. For the most part, they remain one of the most competitive teams in Major League Baseball, recording the second-most regular season wins since 2010.
But the postseason during that span has been a different story. The Yankees have made the playoffs in all but four seasons since last winning the World Series in 2009, but have advanced to the Fall Classic just once, a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024.
The Yankees are coming dangerously close to challenging the franchise's longest period between titles -- an 18-year drought that was snapped in 1996. They currently lead the AL East, but as their recent history shows, that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
New York Giants (14 years)
Like the Yankees, the Giants are viewed differently by many New York sports fans. They are royalty, a franchise that has been around for more than a century that is often thought of as synonymous with success.
Well, the truth is a little less sexy. The Giants haven't won anything since the aforementioned Super Bowl title following the 2011 season. In fact, they have only made the playoffs twice since then.
For a franchise that has won four Super Bowls and, prior to the AFL-NFL merger, four NFL championships, that's just hard to comprehend.
To be fair ...
It's not like the New York City area hadn't won anything between 2012 and Saturday night. There are three franchises that have had a lot of success in that time, but just don't fall under the umbrella of the big four North American pro sports leagues.
Take New York City FC, for example. In the franchise's 11 seasons of existence before this season -- which is currently on a World Cup break -- it appeared in at least the conference semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs eight times, and won the championship in 2021.
Then there's the New York Liberty, who have made 20 playoff appearances in 30 seasons of existence, advanced to the WNBA Finals six times, and won the league championship in 2024.
And last, but certainly not least, there's NY/NJ's NWSL franchise, which, since being rebranded as Gotham FC in 2021, has won two league championships and a CONCACAF Women's Champions Cup.
