Rich’s Power Rankings: The Knicks vs Spurs NBA Finals’ Top 10 Influencers

Wednesday means power rankings, and Rich devoted his SoFi-presented list to the top influencers of the 2026 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs. It was less a basketball breakdown than a comedy tour, and it built to a winner nobody could have scripted.

**10. Knicks fans.** The real test is how they travel. Rich is curious how much blue and orange will dot the turquoise crowd in San Antonio for Games 1 and 2, and whether Madison Square Garden can be the fortress it needs to be when the series comes home.

**9. Gregg Popovich.** The coach whisperer, whom Rich delighted in labeling an influencer. Even with Mitch Johnson now running the bench, Wembanyama sought out Popovich the moment the team landed from its Game 7 win in Oklahoma City. The proof of his pull, Rich said, came from sixth man of the year Keldon Johnson, who explained that when Pop walks into the building, you simply shut up.

**8. Mitchell Robinson's pinky.** Except, as Rich relayed from Brian Windhorst, it is not the pinky at all. It is the fifth metacarpal, a broken hand, the kind of boxer's fracture you get from hitting something. What Robinson hit remains a mystery. Shams Charania reported he will play in Game 1, which the Knicks need for his fouls, rebounding and rim protection. Rich's hopeful spin: maybe the cast turns him into an 80 percent free-throw shooter and he never takes it off.

**7. The head coaches.** Rich admitted his fondness for Mitch Johnson and his amusement at Mike Brown, highlighting a press-conference gem in which Brown was asked how much of his defensive philosophy traced to his days coaching a six-man, first-grade flag football team in San Antonio. Brown happily confirmed his Dogs dominated, complete with a "Who Let the Dogs Out" cheer. Rich figures Brown is four to seven games from being remembered as either a loose, unbothered genius or a coach who was not ready, which is simply how New York works.

**6. De'Aaron Fox.** The 28-year-old is finally on this stage, the kind of battle-tested guard who can pester Jalen Brunson and answer in big moments.

**5. The other Nova Knicks.** Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, with Rich practically pleading that Bridges, acquired for five first-round picks, not become this generation's Allen Houston.

**4. The nuns of San Antonio.** With a straight face, Rich ranked the genuine local fixture. How, he asked, are they not influential?

**3. Jalen Brunson.** Goes without saying.

**2. Victor Wembanyama.** Also goes without saying, edging Brunson simply for being Wembanyama.

**1. A corgi.** Taking all comers, the dog nicknamed Steph Flurry had correctly called the entire Western Conference Finals game by game, and for the Finals it picked the Spurs in seven, mapping out each result along the way. Rich's reverence was total. There is no such thing as a bad dog, he said, just bad owners, or in this case, bad basketball.