The New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA championship in large part due to franchise star Jalen Brunson, who won the Finals MVP award and scored 45 points in the team’s Game 5 closeout win over the San Antonio Spurs.
But despite capping off the Knicks’ first title run in more than 50 years, Brunson made it clear to fans that the team isn’t getting their hopes up heading into the new season.
Speaking on a recent podcast appearance, New York’s superstar pushed back on the notion his team is poised for another easy trip to the championship series, instead discussing the target on the Knicks’ back and the uphill battle the roster will face to become the first team in nearly a decade to win back-to-back titles.
Jalen Brunson Gets Brutally Honest On Knicks’ Title Odds
In Brunson’s latest interview on the Road Trippin Show with multiple former NBA players, the Knicks’ franchise centerpiece didn’t hold back when discussing how difficult his team’s path to a second straight title is.
“We have all these people telling us how great we are, we just you know, we won in New York and everyone in New York is up on their high horse everyone saying the best things about us even though middle of the year they were probably saying the worst as well,” the star said of the team and the fanbase currently at the top of the NBA landscape.
“I’m ready to turn the page. We’re getting to that point, and we’re saying the right things, but now it’s time; once we get there, can we do the right things? It’s all about our actions, but it ain’t going to be easy. It 100% ain’t going to be easy.”
Brunson also added that he doesn’t want to see the Larry O’Brien trophy after the Knicks are awarded their championship rings on opening night.
“It’s important for us to come into the season and be like, ‘Alright, that’s over with.’ Right? We don’t want to speak of the trophy, we don’t want to talk about the trophy, we don’t want to see the trophy, right?” he said. “We want to come in with the same mindset, if not an even tougher mindset (than) we had last year.”
OG Anunoby also mentioned that he is ready to move on from the team’s championship peak last season and is now ready to face the new challenge up ahead.
The Knicks currently have the third-best odds to win the 2027 NBA Finals according to most major sportsbooks and prediction markets, behind the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. They will have a tough road to get out of the East, but keeping the championship core together will be a big help heading into next season.
New York Kept The Championship Core Together
The Knicks’ title odds being so high for this upcoming season is mainly due to the front office keeping a majority of the title-winning core from last season together.
Outside of losing Mitchell Robinson in free agency to the rival Boston Celtics, New York’s top contributors are still on the roster for 2026-27.
Brunson, Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Miles McBride, and the rest of the gang are still together, all of whom helped New York reach the mountaintop of the NBA for the first time since 1973.
The Knicks also lost Jeremy Sochan and Ariel Hukporti in free agency, but neither was a major contributor over the course of the championship-winning campaign.
New York brought in Andre Drummond to replace Robinson’s minutes at backup center, but he was the only offseason addition the front office made.
The franchise also re-signed bench players Jose Alvarado, Jordan Clarkson, Mohamed Diawara, and Landry Shamet, each of whom played a part in the Finals run.
However, as it relates to the Knicks’ title hopes this upcoming year, there are looming contract extensions for Towns, Hart, and McBride. New deals for each could become an unwanted storyline or distraction for the team in 2026-27, just as the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors in the middle of last season nearly crumbled the team.
Regardless, the Knicks are champions heading into the new season, and they will have a target on their backs, as Brunson mentioned. The core is still together, but New York will face the best of their opponents nightly as they try to do what only seven NBA teams have done before and win back-to-back championships.
NBA Superstar Jalen Brunson Issues Strong Warning On Knicks Title Odds