The Knicks won their first title since 1973, and freedom from repeat expectations is a mental health gift.

Like the 2011 Mavericks, this team can savor greatness without the dynasty pressure haunting favored rosters.

With no sequel demanded, the Knicks escape anticipatory anxiety and arrival fallacy that weighs on contenders.

On Saturday night in San Antonio, the New York Knicks did what they had done all postseason. They fell behind early, then rallied from 16 points down to win Game 5 by 94-90 and close out the series 4-1. It was the franchise's first title since 1973. Jalen Brunson poured in 45 points and walked off as the unanimous Finals MVP.

I have spent years watching what happens to people after the final whistle and after the final exam. The celebration is real. The quiet that follows is real too. What keeps pulling at me with this Knicks team is something the confetti tends to hide. This group may have won the healthiest kind of championship there is, the kind that arrives with no demand for a sequel.

To see why, rewind to 2011. Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks beat a Miami Heat team built around LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, a roster assembled to win for years. The Mavericks won that title and then faded from contention. Dirk, the heart of that team, never returned to the Finals. Fifteen years later, that championship is remembered fondly, and no one files it under failure for never repeating, because no one expected a repeat in the first place.

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That absence of expectation is a gift, and psychology explains why. Researchers describe the arrival fallacy, the belief that........

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