Are the Knicks ready for what’s next? New York’s repeat bid begins with nowhere to hide in wide-open NBA

NEW YORK — Everywhere you looked, it seemed, there they were.

Fresh off the run of a lifetime — a 16-3 sprint through the postseason, headlined by some of the most remarkable blowouts and comebacks in NBA playoff history, capped off by an all-time individual performance in the NBA Finals to clinch the franchise’s first NBA championship in 53 years — the New York Knicks spent their summers basking in the afterglow, enjoying the fruits of their labors.

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A ticker-tape parade through the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan. Guest spots on “The Tonight Show,” “Late Night,” “The View,” and “Good Morning America.” Ceremonial first pitches at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, and streets renamed in their honor. Places of prominence in the stands at the World Cup and U.S. Open. Featured appearances at both “Saturday Night’s Main Event” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Jalen Brunson heard MVP chants at City Hall. Karl-Anthony Towns heard “Knicks in five!” during a honeymoon trip to the Serengeti. Mike Brown heard a standing ovation when he and his wife walked into the Polo Bar.

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Everywhere the head coach turned, another well-wisher. More congratulations. Another hand to shake.

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“I had nowhere to hide,” Brown said at the Knicks’ media day session last month.

And now, neither does his team.

On Tuesday night, the Knicks will experience one final celebration of what they accomplished in June. They’ll watch a banner raised to the rafters of Madison Square Garden. They’ll receive championship rings laden with enough ice to turn autumn into winter. They’ll revel in it all one more time, feeling the adulation of the New York faithful wash over them …

… and then look down from the rafters and see Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe and the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers, all champing at the bit for the opportunity to knock the newly anointed kings right off the top of the mountain.

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“I mean, obviously, you look at it on paper, and that’s a hell of a group,” Knicks guard Landry Shamet said at…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/are-the-knicks-ready-for-whats-next-new-yorks-repeat-bid-begins-with-nowhere-to-hide-in-wide-open-nba-124815815.html

Author : Dan Devine

Publish date : 2026-10-20 12:48:00

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