More than two months later, New York Knicks fans are still celebrating the 2026 NBA championship. That’s what happens when a 53-year title drought for a franchise finally comes to an end.
The players certainly enjoyed the moment as well. While they are still thrilled with the accomplishment, it’s back to business for the squad as the regular season begins in less than two months and the Knicks will attempt to go back-to-back.
Jordan Clarkson has made that clear. At his annual charity golf event for the JC Cares Foundation in San Antonio, he spoke with local station KSAT 12.
“It’s amazing, but we putting all of that behind us,” Clarkson said. “A lot of us already have, so the celebration’s done. Back to work, and the goal is to do it again.”
After the Knicks ended their own drought, they are also looking to end some trends that the NBA has been experiencing, such as eight different teams winning it all in the last eight years.
The level of parity in the NBA has never been seen before
What is going on in the league is unprecedented. Since the Golden State Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, here is the list of teams that have won it all:
2019: Toronto Raptors
2020: Los Angeles Lakers
2021: Milwaukee Bucks
2022: Golden State Warriors
2023: Denver Nuggets
2024: Boston Celtics
2025: Oklahoma City Thunder
2026: New York Knicks
That’s the longest stretch without a repeat champion in league history. The previous longest stretch was six years, spanning from 1975 to 1980.
It has also been nearly a decade since a team repeated, which is far different from what occurred from 1987 to 2002. Repeats, and sometimes three-peats, were extremely common:
1987–1988: Los Angeles Lakers
1989–1990: Detroit Pistons
1991–1993: Chicago Bulls
1994–1995: Houston Rockets
1996–1998: Chicago Bulls
2000–2002: Los Angeles Lakers
After that, the Lakers (2009–2010) and Miami Heat (2012–2013) also won it all two years in a row before the Warriors' run.
The level of parity recently in the NBA hasn’t been seen, to the same extents, in other sports. MLB, of course, has the Los Angeles Dodgers. The NFL had Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, as well as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, both of which stacked up Super Bowl wins.
The Knicks are looking to end the streak of non-repeat champions and stretch of years without anyone going back-to-back. They will attempt to do so with much of the same roster, just with Andre Drummond replacing Mitchell Robinson as the backup center.
Clarkson’s mentality is refreshing to hear. Other members of the Knicks have said similar things. They aren’t satisfied with just ending 53 years of misery for the franchise; they're looking to experience the emotions of winning a championship once again.
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