Why can’t the Knicks go back-to-back?

The Knicks are NBA champions.

That’s true now; it’ll be true when the season opens against Philly in October, it’ll be true in the Finals rematch against the Spurs on Christmas, and it’ll be true all the way until next June, when history suggests that a ninth NBA champion in nine years will be crowned.

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The last team to go back-to-back was the 2017 and 2018 Warriors. Since then, most of the champions have thought they could turn what they have into a dynasty.

The Lakers saw no reason why they couldn’t do it again in 2021, but they didn’t.

The Bucks saw no reason why they couldn’t do it again in 2022, but they didn’t.

The Nuggets saw no reason why they couldn’t do it again in 2024, but they didn’t.

The Celtics saw no reason why they couldn’t do it again in 2025, but they didn’t.

The Thunder saw no reason why they couldn’t do it again in 2026, but they didn’t.

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The Knicks right now see no reason why they can’t win another one in 2027, but the flow of the NBA suggests someone new will take the mantle.

But nobody ever said that ultimate parity would continue forever and ever.

The Knicks won it all 65 days ago; they open their season 64 days from now. We are closer to raising the championship banner than we were to raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy. As we head into the second half of this offseason of celebration, there’s one big question.

Why not us? Why can’t the Knicks go back-to-back?

The History

There have been 13 separate instances of a team winning a championship in back-to-back seasons in NBA history, but a good chunk of those were part of larger three-peats (or an eight-peat in the Celtics’ case). As much as we’ve talked about the last eight years being a stretch of unprecedented parity, there have only been three sets of back-to-back champions since 2003, after six of them from 1987-2002.

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Those teams who’ve done it have all had legends of the game:

1949-50 Lakers: George Mikan

1952-54 Lakers: George Mikan

1959-66 Celtics: Bill Russell

1968-69 Celtics: Bill Russell

1987-88 Lakers: Magic Johnson & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

1991-93 Bulls: Michael Jordan

1994-95 Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon

1996-98…

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Publish date : 2026-08-17 19:07:00

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