The New York Knicks enter the new NBA season carrying the weight of a city that celebrated their first championship in over five decades with a confetti-littered parade down Broadway last June. But as the team prepares to tip off its title defense, it faces an obstacle far more imposing than any single opponent: recent history.
No NBA team has successfully repeated as champion since the Golden State Warriors accomplished the feat in 2018. In the eight seasons since, the league has crowned eight different champions, fueling a relentless era of parity driven by salary cap rules, apron restrictions, player movement, and injuries. For the Knicks, breaking that nearly decade-long spell means navigating an 82-game endurance test while contending with rivals who spent the offseason aggressively reloading.
“We put more pressure on ourselves than the outside world puts on us,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown. “We have to be able to look in the mirror and make sure we’re doing what we should be doing for everyone in that locker room. This is a new team, new season and new challenges we’re going to face … we have a standard at an extremely high level that we value.”
Recent history illustrates just how difficult the path has become for defending champions. The 2018-19 Warriors fell to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals. The Raptors themselves were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the 2020 Eastern Conference semifinals, while the 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers stumbled in the first round against the Phoenix Suns. Subsequent champions met similar fates: the Milwaukee Bucks bowed out in the 2022 East semifinals, the Warriors fell in the 2023 West semifinals, the Denver Nuggets lost in the 2024 West semifinals, the Boston Celtics were eliminated by the Knicks in the 2025 East semifinals, and the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals.
Rivals have taken note of those exits, using the offseason to bolster rosters specifically tailored to challenge New York. The San Antonio Spurs return eager to build upon a Finals appearance that slipped away, while Oklahoma City retains its core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren in their prime years. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to a lineup already featuring Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The Detroit Pistons are maturing after missing an opportunity with a top seed last season, and traditional threats like the Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Celtics remain dangerous.
Despite the external arms race, the Knicks opted for continuity, returning nearly their entire championship rotation. The lone notable offseason departure saw backup center Mitchell Robinson depart in free agency for Boston, prompting New York to bring in Andre Drummond as a replacement. Otherwise, the core that caught fire during the postseason—rebounding from an initial first-round stumble against the Atlanta Hawks—remains intact without the encumbrance of aging key players.
Guard Jalen Brunson returns as an MVP candidate and team leader. He is complemented by Karl-Anthony Towns, whose floor-spacing ability forces opposing big men away from the paint to disrupt rim protection and rebounding. Defender OG Anunoby provides positional versatility, while Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Miles McBride, and Jose Alvarado round out a deep supporting cast under Brown and his returning coaching staff.
“We want to come in with the same mindset if not a tougher mindset we had last year,” Brunson said.
While the Knicks project as a formidable regular-season winner capable of securing 55 to 60 victories, players remain cautious about resting on past achievements. As Hart noted ahead of the season opener, assuming a championship level without putting in the necessary work is self-deception.
“If we think that we’re just going to throw the ball up Game One and think we’re at that level again or we’re a championship team, we’re kind of playing ourselves,” Hart said.
