The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.Good morning! Alex here, filling in again as Chris takes a break. Inside:
Geography: Just how back is the NBA’s East?Not even two months ago, it was a common opinion that the “real” NBA Finals were the Western Conference finals between the Thunder and Spurs. They had been the league’s two best teams all season. The West seemed primed to claim a ninth title in the 13 years since the LeBron James-era Heat won their second in 2013. The balance of NBA power was in the West, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama set to keep it there for a while.Now? Not so fast, my friends. The Knicks becoming the center of the hoops universe was one thing, but Fred Katz made a compelling case after James agreed to a deal with the 76ers last week: The Eastern Conference is back, for the first time in a long time. Once upon a time, it was James’ birthright, renewed each year, to take either the Cavaliers or Heat to the finals. The conference lacked juice outside of his teams. Things feel different now:
The Knicks are champions of the world and have most of their key contributors back.
