Indiana Professional Athletes

OG Anunoby Is New York's Newest Icon

A tip-in. That's all it took for an Indiana Hoosier to end a 52-year drought and become the most famous athlete in the most famous city in the world.

OG Anunoby's NBA Finals-winning tip-in delivered the New York Knicks their first championship since 1974, and in the weeks since, the former Hoosier hasn't just been celebrated — he's been canonized. Heading into the 2026-27 season, Anunoby has transcended basketball and entered something rarer: genuine cultural phenomenon status.

The moment's reach has been impossible to ignore. San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper — who faced Anunoby in those very Finals — recently confessed that something about the tip-in is "hilarious" to him, a testament to how deeply the play has burrowed into the NBA's collective consciousness. Even the losing side can't stop talking about it. That's how you know a moment has legs.

Off the court, Anunoby's profile has exploded in ways no Knicks player has experienced in decades. Late-night host Jimmy Fallon, clearly reading the room, teamed up with Anunoby to deliver a signed gift to actress Anne Hathaway — a noted Knicks devotee — during her appearance on The Tonight Show. The stunt went viral almost instantly, cementing Anunoby's place not just in the Madison Square Garden rafters but in the broader New York celebrity ecosystem.

Then came Saturday Night Live. Jalen Brunson hosted the season premiere, but it was Anunoby — along with Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart — who stole headlines when the starting five appeared in the crowd during Brunson's opening monologue. The Sporting News noted plainly: Brunson may have been the host, but Anunoby was the star of the show.

Even Media Day produced a moment. When a reporter told Anunoby he has "one of the best poker faces in the NBA," he chuckled and replied, "I don't know what that means." The clip went viral. Knicks superfan Ben Stiller called himself "lucky" in response, doubling down on his faith in the Finals hero.

On the basketball side, new head coach Mike Brown has already teased an expanded role for Anunoby in the 2026-27 campaign, with the Knicks returning their championship roster largely intact under President of Basketball Operations Leon Rose. The defending champions enter the new season with genuine title-defense credibility — and Anunoby figures to be central to that pursuit.

Thomas Bryant Eyes a Bounce-Back in Cleveland

While Anunoby commands the spotlight, another Hoosier is quietly trying to recapture his own. Thomas Bryant enters year two with the Cleveland Cavaliers hoping to rediscover the form he showed during his time in Indiana. Yahoo Sports flagged Bryant in their Cavs season preview, noting his Indiana run as the benchmark for what a resurgent version of the big man could look like. It's a smaller story, but one worth watching for Hoosier faithful keeping tabs on the full alumni roster.

The week belonged to OG, though. Indiana's fingerprints are all over the NBA's most memorable moment of the year — and New York isn't letting anyone forget it.

The Knicks haven't even laced up for training camp yet, and the OG Anunoby discourse is already running at midseason volume. That's what happens when you're a cornerstone of New York's first NBA championship in more than half a century — and the basketball world still can't quite figure out what to make of you.

Anunoby, who played his college ball at Indiana, was one of the defining players of the Knicks' 2025–26 title run. His Game 4 tip-in — now famous enough to get roasted at the Emmys, where host Mariska Hargitay took a playful jab at Jalen Brunson about it during a pre-taped segment — helped close out the championship series. For a fanbase that waited 50-plus years, it was the kind of moment that gets bronzed.

So naturally, his name is already appearing in trade proposals.

The Trade Buzz That Won't Quit

Even with the trophy barely unpacked, Heavy Sports reported that the Knicks have been proposed a deal centered on Anunoby in exchange for a 16-time All-Star — a package that signals just how highly the rest of the league values the Indiana alum. New York has given no indication it wants to move him, but the fact that offers are materializing this early in the offseason speaks to Anunoby's currency around the league.

It also speaks to a persistent problem: despite being a champion, Anunoby continues to operate in something of a respect deficit. Heavy Sports noted he's already received what they called "disrespectful news" heading into his title defense — a reminder that naysayers are slow learners when it comes to this particular Knick.

The Case for a Leap

Yahoo Sports made the argument this week that Anunoby is actually poised to elevate his game in 2026–27, framing him as still-underappreciated despite his central role in the title. The logic is straightforward: he was one of the main reasons the Knicks won, his two-way value is elite, and with a year of championship experience now baked in, a level-up seems more likely than regression.

The Knicks are clearly betting on exactly that. The front office moved quickly this offseason to reinforce the roster around Brunson and Anunoby, reportedly signing a high-motor veteran to a seven-year, $21 million deal — a move framed explicitly as giving the two stars the supporting cast to run it back.

The Bigger Picture for Hoosier Nation

For Indiana fans, Anunoby's trajectory is the headliner, but he's not the only IU alum active in the NBA. Thomas Bryant is suiting up for Cleveland, Eric Gordon and Jalen Hood-Schifino are both in Philadelphia, Trayce Jackson-Davis landed in Toronto, and Kel'el Ware is with Miami, among others. None are generating the kind of preseason noise Anunoby is — but that's the nature of being a champion in the league's biggest market.

The Knicks open training camp with a clear identity and a clear No. 1 target on their backs. Anunoby, the quiet engine of that championship run, will be at the center of it — whether the rest of the basketball world wants to give him credit or not.