Isn’t it great to start the season with a loss in the standings…
…and a banner in the rafters?
Here’s what your Knickerbockers and Sixonians said after yesterday’s affair, one of 82 regular-season games. Breathe.
Mike Brown
On the Knicks’ championship ring ceremony and the organization’s efforts to organize it:
“I would like to give, and I don’t know who was behind it, but you know, obviously starting with Mr. Dolan and everybody else, you know, did a fantastic job with the ceremony.
“So I would like to acknowledge, you know, everybody else who was behind it. You know, okay, like you said, everybody, you know, you guys did a fantastic job; they weren’t mud like us, so thank you.”
On the Knicks’ performance in their season-opening loss to the 76ers:
“You know, what an ugly game. I want to give the 76ers, Nick Nurse and his team, a lot of credit. A long night for them, but they came out and they tried to do what they needed to do to get a win, so you give them credit first of all. But there were some things that we could have done better. Our transition defense was not good with our starting group in the third quarter. All throughout the game we looked like we were running in mud. Whether it was in the front court or it was in transition, we were not good getting to our spots and putting pressure on Philadelphia the right way… We talked about taking care of the ball. We did a little bit better job. But in a one- or two-possession game when you have 15 turnovers for 22 points, it makes it tough.”
On the Knicks’ slow movement and poor offensive spacing:
“Part of us looking like we were running in mud was our spacing wasn’t great. We were walking everywhere, which hurt our spacing.”
On the Knicks’ transition defense and the 76ers’ fast-break scoring:
“They had nine fast-break points in the first half [in how the Knicks track it]. And then in the second half, they had 19 fast-break points. That’s where the game was won and lost, especially in the third quarter when our starters were out there.”
On how difficult the Knicks’ opening-night performance was to watch:
“I don’t know about you guys, but that was a tough one for me to watch.”
On why a late Jalen Brunson comeback would not have satisfied him even if the Knicks had won the game:
“If Jalen Brunson hits those shots down the stretch and we win, for me personally as their coach, there’s going to be something inside of me that wished it wouldn’t happen. It’s almost like you’re playing with fire and you ended up winning that time without any water or one of them fire blankets to cover the fire.”
On why the Knicks must improve their execution instead of relying on Brunson’s late-game heroics:
“Is (Brunson) capable of making those shots? Yes. But if we played the right way, then it wouldn’t come down to that. But we put ourselves in a hole not doing the little things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And we have to watch the film and regroup and see how we can put a stretch of 48 minutes together.
“I want to win. Don’t get me wrong. Don’t get it twisted. I want to friggin’ win. But not at the expense of us skipping steps. So if he hits those shots down the stretch and we win, as a coach, there’s going to be something inside of me that wouldn’t be happy. Because it’s like you’re playing with fire, and you ended up winning that time without any water.”
On Andre Drummond’s debut:
“I thought that he played with a lot of bounce and energy. We probably ran him a little too long there because it looked like in the second half, not just him but all five of our starters too, ran a little bit out of gas.
“I have to keep getting to know him to see where the minutes may lie for him to be effective for us, but I thought that he was really really, really good on both ends of the floor during the first half.”
On the importance of the little things after the Knicks’ opening-night loss:
“We put ourselves in a hole not doing the other little things and, you know, sometimes it works at the end of the game, sometimes it doesn’t.”
On balancing the Knicks’ championship celebration with their opening-night responsibilities:
“It’s tough because, knock on wood, this could be a once in a lifetime thing. You never know. It’s hard. It’s hard to accomplish something like this.
“You definitely want guys to embrace it and celebrate it with each other because they went through a lot, with the fans, with the rest of the organization, and just with their families. So you don’t want to take that moment away from them. But in the same breath we obviously have a job to do tonight.”
On the Knicks’ slow start not defining their season:
“I keep telling myself that no matter what happens tonight — if we win by five, if we win by 20, if we lose by five, if we lose by 20 — there’s a lot of basketball left. Just because of whatever happens tonight is not going to define us. I would rather them enjoy the moment than me cutting it short or carving into their emotions based on their families and all that stuff being here. Like I said, it’s going to be hard to do, but that’s what we get paid to do so we’ll figure it out one way or another.”
On the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden and the uniqueness of Knicks fans:
“Opening nights are always exciting for everybody and anybody. It’s the start of something new for everybody. It’s fresh. Everybody is energized. You feel the buzz. I don’t care where you are, you feel a buzz. Obviously, here, with our fans, Knicks fans are just different. It’s as simple as that. They’re absolutely friggin’ different. And the buzz has been going on for a while. And you felt it today.
“I had a million texts coming. And usually during the course of the season, I have a couple texts coming before the game. But it was a boatload of them on the way. Couple of calls. … But you can feel it from the correspondence that get, which is different from a regular season game.”
On the Knicks raising a banner to commemorate their 2025 NBA Cup championship:
“I think it’s a recognition of what our journey was like last year. There were obviously a lot of ups and downs. Our guys rallied, found a way to win the NBA Cup and then (the) end-of-season final.”
Jalen Brunson
On the Knicks needing to humble themselves after losing their season opener:
“I think it’s good for us to get knocked down off the mountain, humble ourselves, put our egos in check. I’ve told you guys since day one, whatever happens the first couple of weeks of the season, I’m not sure that’s who we really are.”
On the 76ers’ performance and his own shooting struggles:
“They’re really good and they made things difficult for us. Obvious for me, shots weren’t falling. We can make all the excuses in the world. Like I said, I’m just happy we can move forward now.”
On what failed for the Knicks in Tuesday’s loss:
“Transition defense, yeah. Our offense, I think we were good in spurts. But it’s not good enough.”
On the challenges of defending a championship after receiving so much praise:
“It’s going to be difficult. You have everyone praising us about what we’ve done a couple months ago. It’s just human nature.”
On thanking Knicks fans during the championship banner ceremony:
“Most importantly, I want to say thank you to you guys for not leaving Game 4. We really appreciate it. I mean, this is, as much as we won this, we wouldn’t have won this without you guys, I mean, this is unbelievable. This is really good. A dream come true.
“I know we’re all excited to get this season going. We’re ready to turn the page as a team. But one thing, I would like to say, the joy that this city had this summer we would love to replicate that again. Thank you, guys. Let’s raise this banner.”
On pursuing another NBA championship rather than defending last season’s title:
“Every year, it’s a new year to attack something. When people say we’re defending the title, I mean, that’s one way to look at it. But it’s something we won, we’ve put it in our past, and now we’re just trying to attack another.”
Josh Hart
On the Knicks’ mentality after losing their season opener:
“We play basketball for a living. If you can’t get up and get excited to play basketball, no matter who the hell we play, you got to do some soul-searching. It doesn’t matter if we’re defending champs, it doesn’t matter if we have the worst record in the league last year. No matter what we got to make sure we are professionals and do what our job is and at the end of the day, I don’t think anybody picked us to win the championship again.
“So nothing to it. We shouldn’t sit there and think we’re the champions because we’re not. We’re 0-1. We’re the worst team in the NBA as of right now. So we need to play like it.”
On the improved Eastern Conference and the Knicks’ need to dictate how they play:
“Obviously, they played well, and the East got shaken up a little bit. We have to make sure we’re prepared for what every team is going to try and do, and what we want to do. We can’t let them dictate what we want to do. For us, nothing changes. It’s the same ol’ process. We have to make sure we perfect it the best we can.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the Knicks failing to match the level of play of last season’s team:
“I just thought that we put ourselves too much in a deficit, and you know we’re not that Knick team yet from last year.”
On banner night:
“To celebrate one last time with the fans, it means a lot. We wanted to give them a better version of ourselves tonight than we did, but it was really special to have that moment here again in New York after 53 years.”
LeBron James
On the Knicks receiving favorable officiating on Tuesday after winning the championship:
“They getting that championship whistle. They win one chip, they get a championship whistle.”
On the 76ers’ defensive rebounding adjustments against the Knicks:
“I thought in the first half we played good first-stop defense, but we gave up some second-chance points. They got some threes off of us not closing with a defensive rebound so. I was really conscious about that [in the second half].”
On the satisfaction of spoiling the Knicks’ championship celebration:
“Yeah, I do (enjoy it). It’s pretty special.”
On the significance of the Knicks’ championship celebration and their 53-year title drought:
“I was a part of that at one point, where we hadn’t won a major championship in Cleveland in over 50 years. The fans will never forget this moment, never forget that championship run. We’re happy that we’re just able to come play on such a historical night, in a historical building, and play the game that we love.”
On the 76ers’ execution in the fourth quarter:
“It’s still going to take some time. It’s one game, but obviously we can learn from the good things that we did, we can learn from the bad things that we did tonight. I thought, in the fourth quarter, we did a good job of executing. We did a good job of pressing the tempo when we got the lead. And when they cut the lead, we made some timely shots.”
On his early chemistry with the 76ers and their defensive performance:
“Obviously, just a little bit over two weeks with the new squad. But yeah, I like the way we played. I think we played exceptionally well, especially defensively.”
On his confrontation with a Knicks fan courtside:
“Ain’t nothing soft about the Midwest, I don’t know what the f–k you talking about. I’m not from the West Coast… I’m from Ohio, baby.”
Jaylen Brown
On defense being the foundation of the 76ers’ opening-night victory:
“Defense is what kept us in it. Defense is what we’ll have to continue to hand our hat on. If we keep a team within 100 [points], we’ll always give ourselves a chance to win. So, it’s non-negotiable. We gotta play defense.”
On spoiling the Knicks’ championship celebration:
“It’s good, what we wanted to do, be a little spoiler. The Knicks’ accomplishment is great, but it’s a new season, new year.”
On whether the 76ers sent a message to the NBA with their win over the reigning champs:
“I don’t think we sent a message. We’re just trying to win as many games as possible, stack days. It’s still early for us. We’re still figuring out a lot of stuff. We still have a lot to learn and grow, but it’s good to learn and grow and win at the same time.”
On the 76ers’ chemistry and potential for improvement:
“I think it was just OK. We got a lot of room for growth, room for improvement. We’re not even at the tip of the iceberg in terms of hitting chemistry … So it’s a good sign that we can win while still being at that early stage.”
Joel Embiid
On how different the 76ers felt against the Knicks with their new roster:
“I told Tyrese after the game, I was like, ‘We’ve been going against these guys for the last couple of years.’ And, tonight felt a little different.”
On his responsibility to improve the 76ers’ defense:
“I think just we have the talent. I think a lot of it falls on me. I put it on me. If I want to be All-Defense like I used to be, that changes everything for our team. So if I can play that way every single night, which I will, changes everything.”
Adam Silver
On Jalen Brunson emerging as one of the faces of the NBA:
“It’s hard not to start with Jalen Brunson. I’ll be down when they hang the banner tonight for the championship. Here’s a guy who was a second-round pick, was picked up as a free agent from Dallas, and nobody talked about him as the next superstar in the league, but look how he’s led that team to a championship.”
Jason Arasheben (NYK Ring Maker)
On the significance of designing the Knicks’ first championship ring in 53 years:
“This one is easily set apart from the other projects we’ve done because it’s New York City. The city have been waiting for a championship for 53 years. We’re felt the pressure to make sure we delivered something that’s iconic and historic in design, something to be remembered forever.”
On the emotional significance of creating championship rings:
“There’s nothing like a championship ring because it’s more than just a piece of jewelry, it’s a piece of history. I’ve never felt an energy like this before prior to a championship ring delivery. I’ve never felt energy like this before, ever.”
On the design of the removable top of the Knicks’ championship ring:
“We knew that we couldn’t do a feature that’s been done before, so we challenged ourselves to create something new, something different, and something New York would appreciate. New York City is arguably the greatest city on earth. It is the Mecca of basketball, and the arena that symbolizes all of this is Madison Square Garden. When you twist off the top, you see the lower bowl of Madison Square Garden with the court in yellow gold and seats in white gold. The inside of the cap is all hand enameled with the pattern and colors of the ceiling of Madison Square Garden when you’re looking up at the scoreboard.”
On the ring’s miniature Madison Square Garden that rises from its center:
“The unique feature that’s never been done before, the feature that is historic and what New York City deserves, is a feature where you can twist the inner bezel counterclockwise. We have an engineering system that erects a miniature Madison Square Garden from the center of the ring. It literally comes out of the center of the ring and you have an entire Madison Square Garden to scale with the windows, all the architectural features, everything. My jaw dropped when we first finished it.”
On the blue sapphires and the ring’s Madison Square Garden-inspired design:
“There’s the small details that other people might not see. The blue sapphires, the way they’re set behind the Knicks logo on the face of the ring, it mimics the pattern of the ceiling of Madison Square Garden when you’re looking up at the scoreboard.”
On the ring’s concrete texture paying tribute to New York City:
“The background texture of the side of the ring is like a concrete texture, kind of paying homage to the concrete jungle that is New York City. It’s those subtle storylines that you don’t immediately notice, but give the ring a little more depth and meaning.”
On why the Knicks’ championship ring was intentionally extravagant:
“This is an over-the-top ring. It’s supposed to be, because it’s more than just a piece of jewelry. It’s a testament to a moment in time. It’s celebrating a moment in history, something that New York City’s been waiting 53 years for. So, I think that we were able to deliver that.”
On his personal connection to the Knicks and Anthony Mason:
“When we got the call that we got (the business) for this ring, I had tears in my eyes. I can feel the energy of Anthony Mason over my shoulder as he looks down, proud of me, because he started my career by being my first client, and now it’s a full-circle moment where I’m making a Knicks championship ring.”
