The Knicks will look to be the first repeat champions since the 2018 Warriors.
The New York Knicks’ path to a repeat of their first championship in 53 years involves dealing with a few serious obstacles, namely several strong contending teams with champagne dreams and also managing the typical grind of the 82-game endurance test with all of its potential potholes.
And that’s the easy part.
What makes the Knicks’ chances of repeating seem slim, and some might say slimmer, is an enemy without a face or even an MVP to deal with. Yes, it’s formidable, because the Knicks’ most dangerous denier is … recent history.
That history has not only prevented a repeat champion since the 2018 Golden State Warriors, but has also produced eight different champions in those ensuing years.
The catalog of forces against repeating involves managing the salary cap and retaining top-end talent, along with injuries, which have bedeviled more than a few teams trying to double-up on titles.
Therefore, the parity party in the NBA is not only raging and stretching past midnight, but approaching a decade in length. Money matters, injuries and the increasing number of contenders have made dynasties difficult and a championship accessible to more than a handful of teams.
With the wealth spread more evenly, there are suddenly multiple teams who’ll think “This Is Our Year” come Tuesday when the season tips off. Given that, the Knicks already know what they’re up against. They know about recent history.
“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.”
Before the Knicks’ repeat pursuit begins, here’s a look at how far the last eight champions advanced:
- 2018-19 Warriors: Lost to the Raptors in the NBA Finals.
- 2019-20 Raptors: Lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
- 2020-21 Lakers: Lost to the Suns in the first round.
- 2021-22 Bucks: Lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
- 2022-23 Warriors: Lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
- 2023-24 Nuggets: Lost to the Timberwolves in the West semifinals.
- 2024-25 Celtics: Lost to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
- 2025-26 Thunder: Lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
Not long after the Knicks raised a toast down confetti-littered Broadway in Manhattan last June, rivals began to bulk up and blueprint for 2027. Based on the results of that, arguably, then, the Knicks’ road to repeating is tougher than any of the previous eight champs.
The Spurs are only growing and getting better, and certainly angrier with how the 2026 NBA Finals slipped away from them.
Oklahoma City lost some rotational players, but depth was a Thunder speciality and anyway, the 2025 championship core — Williams, Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren — is intact and in prime.
The Philadelphia 76ers added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and their championship aspirations.
The Pistons are maturing and certainly wiser after failing to capitalize on a top seed last season.
Then there are others who shouldn’t be slept on including the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Cavaliers and Celtics.
By all accounts, the Eastern Conference is notably improved. As for the West, it’s more top-heavy, because one team (OKC) won just a few years ago and another (Spurs) held somewhat comfortable (but ultimately worthless) leads in every game of the 2026 Finals.
Which isn’t to suggest the Knicks have absolutely no chance at breaking the repeater spell. They’re essentially running it back and have understandable reasons to embrace that decision. It’s hard to make wholesale changes to a championship team, and anyway, there was no reason to take even a tweezer to these Knicks.
There was one considerable offseason defection, which happens to almost all champs. Mitchell Robinson, a valuable backup center who had moments against Wemby in the Finals, bolted to the Celtics in free agency. Andre Drummond was added as the replacement. Teams are very wary of the tax and aprons and the potential issues they could cause both short and long term.
Otherwise, the Knicks return all of the important players who helped this team catch fire in the post-season after momentarily stumbling in the first round to the Hawks. And unlike a common ailment of championship teams in the past, the Knicks don’t have key players battling the encroachment of age.
Jalen Brunson has improved every season since leaving the Mavericks where he was a backup (yes, seems so long ago). He’s now an MVP contender, game-changer and even a team-hauler when necessary.
Karl-Anthony Towns is among the toughest assignments in the NBA because of his ability to stretch the floor and force the opposing big man away from the hoop, reducing the other team’s ability to protect the rim and grab rebounds.
OG Anunoby, forever immortalized by The Tip-In, is an impactful defender, capable of guarding multiple positions because of his size and strength combined with instinct and quickness.
Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado and others manage to fill in the gaps and make themselves useful in their own way. Plus, Brown and his coaching staff return after one year on the job and are even more familiar with lineups, personalities and the strength and weaknesses of the players.
“We want to come in with the same mindset if not a tougher mindset we had last year,” said Brunson.
The Knicks are seemingly solid in almost every way. Perhaps good enough to win 55 or 60 games. But here on the eve of the 2026-27 season, are they clearly the top of the heap just because they won a year ago, or is the NBA about to press the reset button again, for the ninth straight time, on defending champions?
“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,” said Hart.
As always, the regular season will drop clues and the post-season will reveal the truth about the reigning NBA champs.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
