The Knicks ended a 53-year title drought last season, beating the Spurs after trailing by 29 points in Game 4 of the Finals. Now this roster tries something no Knicks team has ever done: winning it again.
One Banner Becomes Two
The Knicks hung their first two championship banners in 1970 and 1973, built by Red Holzman around Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Barnett and Phil Jackson. Fifty-three years passed before a third went up, the run that beat the 76ers, swept the Cavaliers and closed out the Spurs after a 29-point comeback in Game 4. Jalen Brunson took Finals MVP and Cup MVP in the same season. New York has still never won back-to-back titles. That is the number this roster is chasing now.
The Near Misses
Patrick Ewing's teams reached the Finals in 1994 and 1999 under Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy and lost both times, the closest this franchise came between the 1973 title and last season's. A division title in 2013 broke a 19-year playoff drought but never turned into more. The pattern here is a franchise that builds windows and watches them close. This group is the first to walk in already holding the trophy.
A Different Kind Of Pressure
Payroll sits at $230.2 million, above the second apron and the $200.4 million luxury-tax line, with the 2027 and 2029 first-round picks already owed to Brooklyn. Keeping this core intact leaves little room to reshape the roster if the season turns. No Knicks team has ever had to defend a title under rules built to break up a roster like this one, because no Knicks team has ever had to defend one at all.
Camp Still Unsettled
Ochai Agbaji, James Wiseman, Drew Eubanks and John Konchar joined the roster this month, while Liam Robbins and Igor Milicic Jr. were among the camp invites waived. Hoopsrumors framed the fight for New York's final spots as still open, and Bruce Brown, who arrived from Denver, remains on a non-guaranteed deal with no word yet on whether it sticks. History does not care who fills the last roster spot. Banners get hung by whoever survives to June.
The Bottom Line
The record is 0-0, the preseason opens October 5 at Philadelphia, and the regular season follows October 20 against the same opponent. None of that changes what this season is actually about: the Knicks spent 53 years chasing one banner and have never chased a second while holding the first. That history is the whole story now.
Have the Knicks ever won back-to-back NBA titles?
No. New York's first two championships came in 1970 and 1973, separate runs under Red Holzman, and last season's title was the franchise's first in 53 years.
What is holding the Knicks' roster together financially?
New York's payroll is $230.2 million, above the second apron and the luxury-tax line, with future first-round picks already owed to Brooklyn, leaving little room to alter the roster.
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