53 years in the making: Knicks raise NBA championship banner at the Garden
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson shows his ring to his dad and assistant coach Rick Brunson during the championship banner ceremony before the Knicks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers on opening night at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Members of the Knicks teams that won NBA titles in 1970 and 1973 were assembled again and sat in a line at center court. Before the Knicks could be introduced to accept their championship rings and raise the banner marking the 2025-26 NBA title, the sellout crowd at the Garden shook the building with chants of “Knicks in 5.” And then the champions watched it rise to the rafters of the World’s Most Famous Arena.
These are just a few images of an evening 53 years in the making — “Championship Night” — that unfolded Tuesday night before the Knicks opened their title defense against Philadelphia. But they could not put a perfect punctuation mark on a great night and fell to a 76ers team that now features LeBron James and Jaylen Brown with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.
The Knicks lost, 106-100, before a sellout crowd of 19,812.
Philadelphia scored the final 11 points of the third quarter for an 83-76 lead, got the margin to nine points early in the fourth quarter and the Knicks never got closer than 96-95 on a Karl-Anthony Towns three-pointer with 4:37 to play. The Knicks shot just 37% for the game.
There were many more memories to be had in the pregame festivities. Walt “Clyde” Frazier embraced Jalen Brunson and handed him a championship ring that rivals any ever made while Knicks fans again hit deafening decibels. Gale Reed, the widow of the Knicks iconic captain, Willis Reed, gave coach Mike Brown his championship ring. And Brunson took the microphone to address the crowd before the banner was hung to proffer a word of thanks.
“Most importantly, I want to say thank you to you guys for not leaving Game 4 — we really appreciate it,” he said. “I mean this: as much as we won this, we wouldn’t have won this without you guys. This is unbelievable. This is really good. [It’s] 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 . . . Let’s raise this banner.”
After the loss, Brunson was asked how special is was to get to thank the fans. He said: “Very . . . just the [love] they’ve shown this team, my family, [in] four years going to five. Just to celebrate that . . . is really cool.”
Gathered together after posing in front of the banner, the players were clearly taken with the rings, almost showing them off to each other. They are quite a feat of design, and that doesn’t even get into the array of diamonds and sapphires encrusting them.
Beneath the Knicks logo atop the ring is a tiny replica of Madison Square Garden that can pop up with a twist of the top. And the top can be lifted off to reveal a tiny replica of the Garden’s interior with the team logo at center court. The player’s name and number are featured on one side, while the results of each of the four playoff series they won surround the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the other. At the bottom of the ring, it is inscribed with “Knicks in 5.”
“You know, to be able to celebrate one last time with the fans, it means a lot,” said Towns, who had 19 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. “We wanted to give them a better version of ourselves today than we did. But it was really special to have that moment here again in New York after 53 years and to have a new banner up. It’s a cool feeling to be that team that was able to do it.”
Brunson had 21 points but shot 6-for-19, Towns had 19 points and Hart had 14 points for the Knicks. OG Anunoby had just 10 points and was 3-for-12 shooting, including 1-for-9 on three-point attempts.
“[At] the end of the game, we tried to do the Knicks thing, which is make this fiery comeback, win the game, and it’s just too early in the season to make that happen,” Towns added.
Maxey led the 76ers with 28 points, Brown had 19 points including both of his threes in the 11-0 run and James had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Afterward, many of the Knicks talked about the task of turning the page and focusing on the new season with the goal of hanging another banner.
“It’s going to be difficult,” Brunson said. “You have everyone praising us about what we’ve done a couple months ago. It’s just human nature, and it’s difficult, but it’s just to hold each other accountable and try . . . to get better. Obviously, we’re very thankful for what we did, but there’s still a lot left for us to prove.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
