New Delhi, June 14 -- that waiting long enough actually means something. That the drought, however punishing, eventually ends.

Jalen Brunson scored 45 points on Friday night as the Knicks closed out the San Antonio Spurs in five games, delivering New York its first NBA championship since 1973. The celebration that followed was singular, delirious, and deeply personal for anyone who had spent decades watching other cities pile up trophies. But it landed hardest as a piece of evidence - the kind sports fans desperately collect - for the 19 NFL fan bases still waiting on their own version of that night.

The question those fans are now quietly asking themselves is not sentimental. It is structural. The NBA and NFL are governed by similar sa...