It doesn’t matter if it’s been 53 years or your whole life.
The wait is over, and we’ll all see the Knicks put up another banner this evening.
Here’s the latest from your New York Knickerbockers heading into Ring Night. Enjoy!
Mike Brown
On the challenge of celebrating the Knicks’ championship before their season opener:
“It’s hard
because they’re human, and there’s a part of you that wants to keep celebrating, but we’ve got to turn it off. The challenge is to try to get them enjoy the moment, but not fully. You have to try to supress all that early, before the ceremony, so that you can quickly get not just your body, but your mind and your emotions into the task in front of you.”
On how he’ll try to keep the team focused after the ring ceremony:
“It’s a challenge. I mean, it’s hard because they’re human, and there’s a part of you that wants to keep celebrating. But you got to turn it off. So the challenge is trying to get them to enjoy the moment, but not fully. I guess, if that makes sense.
“Because you have to try to suppress all that early, before the ceremony, during the ceremony, so that you can quickly get, not just your body, but your mind and your emotions into the task in front of you.”
On avoiding complacency after winning the NBA championship:
“It is a little tough, even for me as a head coach. You have people patting you on the back, telling you how good you are. It’s good, and you want people to be able to do that with you and for you and all that stuff. But in the same breath there always has to be a part of you — and I know this from experience — that says, ‘OK, Don’t listen to this, don’t read this, don’t watch this.’ Because it’s hard to stay even-keeled in situations like that.
“You’ve got to embrace it. You’ve got to enjoy it with others, especially your family. But try to come back to earth as soon as possible. And I think our guys have done a good job with it. There have been times when we think we know [what it takes], which is natural, and there’s going to be more times like that during the course of the season.
“But at the end of the day, we have a pretty sharp group. And if they don’t know, we’ll definitely help them know that this is not last year. This is a new season and we can’t just think we’re going to switch that light on and get after it.”
On James Wiseman facing less pressure with the Knicks than he did with the Warriors:
“It was a different situation with the Knicks. You come in as No. 2 pick in the draft with Golden State and you’re talented and skilled as he is and it can be tough on you because of expectations. Not just from the media and fans but sometimes your teammates and coaches and rest of the organization and if it’s hard for certain individuals to live up to. … With this situation, it’s — OK, he’s been around the block, he’s experienced adversity. We’re not looking for him to start or fight for a starting position. We’re not necessarily looking for him to come in and be a backup. He has the luxury of growing at his own pace without much pressure.”
Jalen Brunson
On approaching the new season as a fresh challenge rather than defending a championship:
“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 in our past, and now we’re just trying to attack another.”
On the importance of retaining the Knicks’ championship-winning core:
“[It’s] very valuable. For us to come back, it’s good to have our chemistry continue to grow, understanding that we’ve done it, but are we still hungry, are we still satisfied? Do we continue to get better every single day, or are we just content? That’s our big question that’s going to be answered within the first couple weeks of the season. However we answer it, we’re going to attack it and get better every single day after that.”
On wanting to share the Knicks’ championship ring ceremony with the fans:
“Definitely special. They deserve it. This is something that’s been brewing for a long time and to share this moment with them is definitely going to be special.”
On moving forward after winning the championship:
“It’s about how quickly you turn a page and how quickly you understand that the egos have to be checked at the door.”
On whether the Knicks have already moved past last season’s championship:
“I would say most of, if not all of us, have kind of turned the page already. I think tomorrow is just something we can reflect on and understand what we did. But for the most part, we all turned the page . . . There is no relaxation.”
Landry Shamet
On why last season’s championship will no longer matter once the new season begins:
“I think the fascinating part about sports is that starting tomorrow, no one cares [about the championship]. After the ceremony’s over, it’s 0-0. We’re a competitive bunch, and by no means is anybody expecting to just coast or anything like that. That’s definitely not the tone of our group.”
On the challenge of celebrating a championship and immediately returning to competitive basketball:
“I think that’s maybe some of the challenge that I’ve read about and seen in the past that championship teams have. How do you take the high in the celebration at the beginning of the game, and still go out and perform, play the brand of basketball that you’d want to play?”
On spending three consecutive seasons with the same NBA organization for the first time:
“It’s not lost on me. I feel like I try and do a good job of not taking much for granted. [I’ve] never spent three consecutive training camps with the same organization, so feels really good … to be here and have a familiar group and feel comfortable and confident with the people I’m around. I feel like they feel the same way about me, so I don’t take that for granted at all.”
On the Knicks remaining motivated after winning the championship:
“I don’t think any of us are ready to sign off and be done playing basketball. I don’t view it as a contentment thing. I think obviously you’re super grateful and appreciative, and I know I am, to have all that work to pay off. But I think the fascinating thing about it is starting tomorrow nobody cares. The ceremony is over. It’s 0-0. We’re all a competitive bunch and by no means is anybody expecting to coast or anything like that. Definitely not the tone of our group.”
Josh Hart
On repeatedly being congratulated for the Knicks’ championship throughout the offseason:
“You’re fully into the swing of working out in the summer and it’s tough to turn the page. Because you’re sitting there, you turn the page, you’re like ‘I got to work and then somebody says, ‘Congrats, we did this, my family did this, we watched it together,’ and you just keep getting brought back to the championship.
“You move on, you get brought back. That’s also why I can’t wait for that opening night tip, to really put all that stuff behind us.”
OG Anunoby
On how to navigate the ring ceremony and playing right afterward after experiencing it in Toronto:
“You celebrate with the ring, take pictures, then the game started. It was kind of weird. Then the game goes on, first quarter and second quarter, it gets back to normal. You get used to it. But initially, yeah, it was kind of weird.”
Steve Kerr
On Mike Brown’s coaching career and why he is prepared to lead the Knicks’ championship defense:
“Mike’s kind of seen it all. Coaching LeBron [James] and coaching Kobe [Bryant] and high-profile teams like the Lakers to all of a sudden going to Sacramento and becoming Coach of the Year in a small market and then getting fired a year later. It was just really fun to see a guy who has literally seen it all in his coaching career get a championship and validate everything.
“And he was here with us as we went through our process trying to repeat. Mike has seen it all. He’ll do a great job.”
Brian Windhorst
On LeBron James’ original Nike contract including a bonus if he was drafted by the Knicks:
“There was this dream, and in fact, it was kind of LeBron’s dream too. Literally the night before he agreed to his Nike contract. In the Nike contract, he got like a 20 or 30 percent bonus if he got drafted to the Knicks. They agreed to that the night before the Lottery. That’s why it was so important to get it done before the lottery, because they wanted to pay him. When the envelope opened and showed the Knicks at number nine, there was an audible sound in the room because people wanted LeBron to go to the Knicks.”
Alan Hahn
On LeBron James’ longstanding interest in joining the Knicks:
“He has always flirted with the idea of the Knicks for years. I always felt like there was going to be a connection at some point. And that’s what kind of makes me laugh now, like you were just saying, it’s like now that it was finally time, the Knicks were like, ‘No, we’re good. We got what we needed. We won our championship, so we’re all set.’ Now, he flies a helicopter to New York instead.”
