Just in case you’re still celebrating the NBA Cup victory, just remember the Knicks are back on the schedule today with a matchup against the NBA Finals losers Indiana Pacers, no less!
Not only that, but New York is actually scheduled for a back-to-back with the second leg of it happening tomorrow in Philly. Uh, oh, in-season tournament.
Here’s a bunch we missed amid our Cup hangover.
Mike Brown
On lineup flexibility and confidence:
“It’s huge because you want to give guys an opportunity. But when they step up and they produce during their opportunities, what it does is it gives them confidence, but it gives everybody else confidence around, from the coaches to their teammates, to be able to say, ‘OK, we can play three small guards at one time because we’re able to do certain things out there with those three guys.’ You want that for everybody on the team whenever they’re thrown into the game. It was evident that we were able to get it done by mixing and matching and with different lineups tonight. I’m proud of everybody in that locker room.”
Jalen Brunson
On post-Cup celebration expectations:
“I don’t think we’re having a parade. To the city of New York? I think it’s good that we won this. I think the way we won it is special, as well. I mean, our fans are always going to support us through thick and thin.”
On staying levelheaded:
“I think for me, I always focus on staying levelheaded through the positives, through the negatives. You can’t get too high, can’t get too low. This is great. We’re going to enjoy this. But once we leave tomorrow, we’re moving on.”
On mindset and growth:
“It shows the confidence and trust Mike has in us to figure it out. He’s unafraid to fail either. I think having that mindset of not being afraid to fail is good for us because it allows us to continue to fight. It allows us to go out there and not worry about the result. We may play great defense on a possession, hit a tough shot. We may play a great game all game and lose on the final buzzer. We’re not afraid of failure. I think that’s a big-time thing about us. We got to continue to have that mindset and thought.”
On the NBA Cup as a milestone:
“It’s a goal of ours we get to check off. It’s an important stepping stone for us. We can still learn from this game and get better as well.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the NBA Cup’s significance:
“The Cup is special. I think you saw tonight, here in Vegas, semifinals, finals, it brought out the best of all the teams. For us to be in a position to say that we won, we’re the champions, have that dope shirt on with the Knicks saying ‘Champions’ is humbling and an honor.”
On celebrating and refocusing:
“I know right now in our careers and our lives, we’re going to celebrate this one tonight. We’re going to hold this Cup championship dear to our heart. But now it’s time to work on the second one.”
Josh Hart
On his thumb placement:
“Damn in 4k….. IT WAS AI”
On the team-wide response to Browns’ advice:
“I think we were able to handle adversity very well. I think Mike snapped at us a couple times, we were able to respond to that. That start of the fourth quarter was amazing by those guys. I think we were down five. Next thing you know we’re up six or eight or whatever it was.”
Adam Silver
On NBA expansion timeline:
“I’d say in terms of domestic expansion, that is something we’re continuing to look at. It’s not a secret we’re looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle. We’ve looked at other markets, as well. I’d say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we’re somehow teasing these markets, because I know we’ve been talking about it for a while. As I’ve said before, domestic expansion, as opposed to doing a new league in Europe, is selling equity in this current league. If you own 1/30 of this league, now you own 1/32 if you add two teams. So it’s a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future. I think now we’re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we’ll make a determination.”
On Seattle and Las Vegas as NBA cities:
“I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities. Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. We’ve been playing the Summer League here for 20 years. We’re playing our Cup games here, so we’re very familiar with this market. I don’t have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team.”
On league-wide injuries:
“All I can deal with is the data itself. And the data we have so far this season is we have the lowest number of injuries in the last three years. I’ll stop there and say, regardless where the level of injuries stands versus prior years, of course the soft tissue injuries concern us. All injuries concern us, for that matter. The most frustrating issue right now, and the one that we have seemingly the least control over, is keeping star players on the floor. I think we have made progress. We’ve made adjustments in scheduling. We’ve made adjustments in the sharing of information among teams. We’ve made adjustments in the care of players. But there are no silver bullets here.”
Charles Barkley
On the NBA Cup:
“I think the Cup thing is somewhat embarrassing. I’m disappointed that we have to make an in-season tournament to make these guys more money, so they won’t do load management. But to have to pay these guys extra money to make them play other games – they should play basketball because they’re well-compensated to play basketball. To do an in-season tournament to make them extra money, come on, man. That’s a little bit ridiculous.”
Dirk Nowitzki
On OG Anunoby seeking shooting advice:
“He wanted to know every little detail about feet, about positioning of hands, of breathing, of where eyes go. He asked me all sorts of questions. One main thing I told him about is the finger position on the ball. When I shot the ball, I liked to spread my fingers as wide as I could.”
Dwight Howard
On the Knicks not hanging a banner:
“I’m going to be second hand embarrassed if the Knicks don’t raise the NBA Cup Banner then don’t make it to the championship this year. Celebrate your wins while you can.”
Stephen A. Smith
On the Eastern Conference:
“The Eastern Conference looks vulnerable. Now, I will confess, the Detroit Pistons are no joke. I am not shoving them aside, they are coming and they want the Knicks bad.”
On the Knicks’ depth:
“In the end, I’m excited about the Knicks. I’m looking at a level of depth that the New York Knicks have, how they’re more even more efficient offensively. And that gives me cause to get excited.”
Spike Lee
On the NBA Cup win:
“Yeah. It’s not over. Tuesday. It’s great. But we got a bigger thing. It’s a path.”
Marv Albert
On the Knicks’ title chances:
“But this is their best team in years, and it’s not even close. Oklahoma City is a very special team, a better team than the Knicks, but you never know what’s going to happen in that second year after a championship. I think San Antonio could really be a problem, too. But this is the best shot the Knicks have had since the 1994 team that lost to the Rockets in the Finals.”
On trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo:
“People will think I’m crazy, but I would not do it.”
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo
On the NBA Cup’s legitimacy:
“I do not understand it, Brian. I apologize, somewhere, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed and Red Holzman are saying, ‘Really? We’re gonna celebrate this stupid thing? This inauthentic creation to jazz up the regular season, which means absolutely nothing in the big picture?’
“The idea that anybody thinks this is important … Boy, because it’s December, we gotta jazz up their regular season? This is inauthentic. You do not convince a serious sports fan about something that’s inauthentic. And this is not authentic.”
Mike Francesa
On hanging an NBA Cup banner:
“You know I don’t like the NBA Cup. If the New York Knicks hang that banner, it would make me very cross. I would be very, very opposed to it. Win the game but trash the banner. The competition cheapens the regular season.”
