It takes 12 players, multiple coaches, a medical staff, front office and much more to win a championship, but to the general public, most of the credit falls on the big stars. For the Knicks, now two wins away from their first chip in over half a century, that’s Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, but their roster of unsung heroes runs much longer.
One player who can’t be ignored is Landry Shamet — now on his second consecutive veteran’s minimum deal, Shamet’s been a major part of their run to the championship, despite the bumps and bruises on the way.
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Last year, he suffered a shoulder injury in preseason and agreed to rehab in the G-League before rejoining the team midseason. While he returned to action, he fell out of the rotation when the playoffs rolled around, until the Knicks desperately turned to him facing elimination in the Conference Finals.
He provided a nice spark, but New York had limited roster spots going into 2025-26, and he had to compete for another minimum deal. Shamet made the cut, but this year began to look like Déjà vu.
Shamet suffered another shoulder injury early this season, sidelining him for a third of it. He’d come back again, but wasn’t a major rotation piece early in the postseason.
Things turned around in New York’s second round, when Shamet popped for 15 and 12 points in Games 3 and 4 on the road in Philadelphia. His performance helped close out the Sixers, as he shot 6-of-9 from three in the two contests.
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But the real magic came in Game 1 of the Conference Finals. With Josh Hart struggling down 22 and just seven minutes to play, head coach Mike Brown subbed in Shamet with the starters for spacing, and the Knicks rolled.
Shamet hit some of the biggest threes of the season: one to cut the lead to 17, another that bounced in with under a minute to play that tied the game, and finally the clincher in overtime. He finished with just these nine points, but they were crucial to one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Playoffs history.
He followed up with another pair of big road games, scoring 14 in Game 3 and 16 in Game 4, contributing to another dominant sweep. He finished the Conference Finals shooting a stellar 11-of-12 from downtown.
If these performances weren’t enough to cement his legacy in this playoff run, his early start to the Finals might put #44 in the rafters. Shamet’s been a big boost off the bench in a series Brunson’s struggled and the Knicks haven’t played to their best offensively as a team.
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Shamet scored 13 in Game 1 on 3-of-6 shooting from three, and another 13 on 3-of-7 three-point attempts in Game 2, as the Knicks won two tough road games to take control of the championship round.
Throughout his appearances, he’s defended hard and attacked the mid-range and paint to keep defenses honest.
It’s no exaggeration that the Knicks wouldn’t be in this spot without Shamet’s contributions. Miles McBride is averaging under seven points this postseason and Jordan Clarkson slowly fell out of the rotation as the competition stiffened.
With limited offensive help from the pine, Shamet’s been a major lift, providing double-digit scoring in single-digit victories. All on a prove-it contract that’s likely to now be aggressively outbid in the summer.
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The Knicks are still two wins away from their ultimate goal, and Shamet will need to continue his pace to secure them. If that happens, he goes from heartwarming story to local legend, and no matter where he ends up, New York fans will be eternally, deservingly grateful.