Steve Popper: It's a new season, and the Knicks are starting from the same place as every other team
The Knicks watch as their championship banner is raised before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on opening night at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The last time the Knicks were on the Madison Square Garden floor it was hard to find them, fans and family flooding onto the court, incredulously celebrating the last shot to fall — OG Anunoby’s wild tip-in of Game 4 of the NBA Finals — before the NBA title, the parades and the parties.
So how do you top that moment? How do you celebrate one more time?
For the Knicks, it was unveiling the first championship banner in 53 years. It was opening night for the 2026-27 season, but in the streets outside the Garden, in the corridors and on the court, it was one last celebration for what came months earlier.
The video highlights were cast on the scoreboard and then former greats of the franchise — Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley and Earl Monroe — were joined by the son of Dave DeBusschere and the wife of Willis Reed. The championship rings were handed out. And then Jalen Brunson took the microphone.
“Most importantly, I want to say thank you to you guys for not leaving Game 4,” he said. “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.”
With that, the players gathered and watched as the banner made its way to the rafters and the Knicks could put the rings back in their cases and begin the 2026-27 season, the first title defense that the franchise has attempted in — you’re still going to hear this — 53 years.
Nothing has seemed ordinary for the Knicks since the postseason run took over the city. As the day of this game approached tickets just to get into the arena touched nearly $2000. The team was once again the must-see show with celebrities crowding the courtside seats and into the suites.
“It’s tough because, knock on wood, this could be a once in a lifetime thing,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “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.”
There were lifetimes that came and went waiting for this championship and maybe that’s why it was so treasured. If the Yankees wait 17 years like they have, well, someone born hasn’t even reached drinking age yet as they settle for one playoff appearance after another. Knicks fans born after the last title were contemplating retirement communities as they waited for a trophy.
Coming up in the elevator hours ahead of tipoff, I asked Walt Frazier about the last time the Knicks won, if they had a ring ceremony or a banner raising. He said all the celebrations came the night of the victory, with a trip to Gracie Mansion. But when the next season began, it was a memory pushed aside.
Maybe it’s the waiting that explains why street signs were put up around the Garden acknowledging the champions, why fans were singing and celebrating outside before the gates opened to the arena.
“Opening nights are always exciting for everybody and anybody,” Brown said. “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.”
Once the banner made its way up, it was a regular season game. It was a new season and the Knicks were starting from the same place as every other team.
“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,” Brown said. “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.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
