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“It’s been really fun,” OG Anunoby, near the end of his summer as a Knicks champion, told The Post. The scene Tuesday, remembering the tip, was “really cool,” Anunoby said. He could “feel all the fans, all the excitement after the win, all together” on the Essentia court. “OG, we’re going back-to-back,” one fan shouted as Anunoby posed for pictures. The most stoic Knicks player even cracked smiles as the Gersh Park Basketball players kept trying to recreate his shot. Sometimes, they couldn’t tip it in. Other times, Anunoby made his attempts.
You’ve said in other interviews that you’ve gotten over your iconic tip-in shot in Game 4 in the Finals. Why are you able to think that way, knowing what it meant for that game, the series and the reaction it sparked among your teammates and fans? Anunoby: “I’m not over it as if I don’t care about it. It’s more about that I’m ready for the next season. It was fun winning a championship. It was amazing. But we all want to do it again. So it’s about getting ready to start the next season. Hopefully we can do it again.”
In light of your success last season and winning the championship, how are you trying to build off of that this offseason with your game? Anunoby: “It’s to keep improving and to keep getting better and better. Our goal is the same: to win the championship next season. That’s everyone’s goal. But as far as me, it’s about getting better. It’s a feel thing. I think you can feel when you’ve improved. I think you know when you improve. Each year, I’ve felt that I’ve improved. So it’s about doing the same things that I’ve always done and not worrying about anyone else. I’m just worrying about myself and how I can do the best for myself and for my team.”
The Knicks finally rallied before OG Anunoby produced the defining moment of the Finals. But while the rest of basketball continues to replay the moment, Anunoby has already moved on. "It comes up quite a bit so I see it quite a bit." Does he still get the same feeling every time he watches it back? "No. I'm over it now." It is a typically understated response from Anunoby. Even immediately after Game 4, amid euphoric scenes at Madison Square Garden, Anunoby remained calm.
Inside the locker room there was always belief, as Anunoby explained to Sky Sports. "Honestly, before the start of the playoffs, our whole team just came together and we knew we had one goal. We took every game day by day, game by game," he said. "We went on a crazy run. I don't know how many games we won in a row (13) but every game was focused on the next, trying to build and be better than we were the last game. Even in the Finals, it was just day by day, game by game."
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While British basketball continues to search for further growth, the pathway to the NBA is becoming increasingly visible. Tobi Lawal became the latest Brit to hear his name called in the NBA Draft this summer, joining Anunoby and Amari Williams as Brit-born players in the NBA. Anunoby sees no reason for that progress to slow down. "Each year more and more Brits are coming to the NBA. The game is growing each year. It's amazing to see and it's just going to keep getting better and better," he said.
Channing Frye: "Nick Nurse, one thing that's not taking into consideration is Nick Nurse is a beast. And so when you add all these personalities to a team, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, you know, Bron, VJ Edgecombe, you know, Jaylen Brown, you need a coach that can handle all that that's going to put them in the right situation. A lot of them, everyone's going to talk about usage rate, but Nick Nurse made it work in Toronto with, you know, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard."
You need to tell me about OG’s play. Where were you on the court? Karl-Anthony Towns: I’m right next to him. I was gonna dunk it in. I see OG flying in the sky and I’m like, if he tries to tip the ball back in and it goes off the front rim, I’m going to dunk it back in. OG made it. It was something special. The play was designed to go to me, and then two people guarded me. We finally got the ball to J.B. [Jalen Brunson], and J.B. took a quick pull-up three, and OG, who was inbounding the ball, found himself with no one on him, and he crashed to the board and got the offensive rebound, which was the tip-in, and found a way to make the bucket. It’s going to go down as one of the greatest plays in New York history. One of the great plays in N.B.A. finals history.
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The ball that New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby tipped in to seal the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history and win Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs was returned to the Knicks shortly before it was scheduled to hit the Sotheby’s auction block Tuesday.
“The game ball from Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals holds significant importance to the New York Knicks, their fans, and the city, and will remain with the team as a lasting piece of franchise history. As such, it will not be included in Sotheby’s June 30 auction, which will continue to feature a curated selection of authentic jerseys and memorabilia from the series,” an NBA spokesperson said in a statement to The Athletic when asked why the ball was withdrawn.
The celebrated basketball from British forward OG Anunoby’s legendary game-winning tip-in during Game 4 of the NBA Finals 2026 is officially heading to Sotheby’s, with experts projecting the artifact could fetch up to $3 million. This iconic piece of sports memorabilia represents the crowning moment of the New York Knicks’ first championship run in 53 years, sealing one of many dramatic comeback victories against the San Antonio Spurs during their best-of-seven championship series in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google. Engineering the largest rally in Finals history after trailing by 29 points deep into the third quarter, a resurgence fueled by setting an unprecedented playoff record of 14 three-pointers in a single half.
The ball that helped deliver the most significant moment in modern New York basketball history is headed to auction. The ball from OG Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in during Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals will be sold by Sotheby’s beginning June 30.