Here’s what happened the season after Knicks won their last NBA championship

The 2025-26 Knicks accomplished a feat the franchise hadn’t seen in 53 years: capturing an NBA title.

And while the win made the Knicks the talk of the basketball world and took over NYC for the summer, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and the rest of the team now have to defend their title — another feat the organization hasn’t had to do in quite some time.

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“Not being satisfied is the biggest takeaway moving forward,” Brunson said of the mindset of trying to repeat. “We just have to find a way to turn the page and move on. Last year we took everything one day at a time. We know what it takes, going through the same mindset for this journey. It’s a new journey. It’s a different journey. The approach has to be the same, if not better.”

But as we gear up for the start of the 2026-27 season, here’s what happened to the Knicks the last time they entered as the defending champions…

Regular Season

The Knicks had an uneven start, going 6-4 across their first 10 games. But the defending champions found their way, finishing the year with a 49-33 record despite a 4-6 record over their final 10 games.

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New York helped themselves by putting together six winning streaks of at least four wins. Although they had eight fewer wins than their championship year, they finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, only bested by the Boston Celtics (56-26), who were led by Dave Cowens, John Havlicek and Paul Silas.

Walt Frazier led the team in points (20.5), assists (6.9), steals (2.0) and minutes played (41.7). He finished sixth in MVP voting, was voted into the All-Star Game and made first-team All-NBA and All-Defense.

Dave Debusschere was Frazier’s running mate, averaging 18.1 points and coming down with 10.7 rebounds in his All-Star season. He finished 11th in MVP voting and was first-team All-Defense.

ec. 8, 1973; Atlanta, GA, USA; FILE PHOTO; New York Knicks guard Walt Frazier (10) in action against the Atlanta Hawks at The Omni. / Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Eastern Conference Semifinals

The Knicks’ playoffs began against the Capital Bullets, a team they defeated in the semis just a year ago — when…

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Publish date : 2026-10-17 00:14:00

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