The New York Knicks' season was destined to be turbulent as soon as they followed up last year's Eastern Conference Finals run by moving on from their head coach. Mike Brown's experience and logical approach have certainly proven conducive to the management of sky-high expectations, or how a team should navigate the reality of not always meeting them.
But it's still hard to say that the Knicks have steadily looked like a true NBA title contender throughout the entirety of their 2025-26 campaign. But their defense has picked up majorly since around the start of February, and they're at least beginning to look ready to make as deep of a playoff run as they need to in order to live up to the standards that have been established for them.
Their head coach agrees. Brown says the team is optimistic about their prospects both on both sides of the court and between players' ears. If the Knicks truly are ready to go on offense, defense, and with regard to their mentality, it's hard to imagine someone in the Eastern Conference – that isn't the Boston Celtics – keeping them away from the NBA Finals.
Brown says Knicks seem just about ready for postseason campaign
The 55-year-old coach told reporters ahead of the Knicks' Sunday night game against the Charlotte Hornets that, while he wishes the season had gone a bit more smoothly, the team's progress has been positive overall.
"I wish I could have figured some things out a little sooner than what I did, but we’ve had more ups than downs. You want to win your conference and you want to end up with the best record, so those two areas are disappointing," Brown said before explaining that the team's NBA Cup Championship served as solid consolation given their success in a higher-stakes environment.
The Knicks' gaffer had more to say than just his solemn comment about the team failing to win all 82 games. While Brown isn't hanging any banners for his team prematurely, he certainly wasn't afraid to praise the players in his locker room for their prowess and connectivity both on and off the court.
"Going into the playoffs, we feel pretty good where we are offensively and defensively as a group. We feel connected. I feel like everybody on the team has sacrificed in one way, shape, or form. You need that from your group in order to have some success. Our guys compete. And like I said, at this point in the season, I feel like the guys really believe. Not just in what we’re trying to do, but in each other,"
After a full regular season of schemes changing, players expressing confusion regarding their roles and fit in Brown's system, and frustrating losses (or close wins) against teams widely believed to be in search of the best lottery odds they can possibly tank their way to, Brown's comments from Wednesday seem out of a Knick fan's fever dream.
But none of it will matter much if the team doesn't make their way through the first round with relative quickness and then advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second straight year. That's not exactly a low bar to clear, but the Knicks won't be caught off guard by the challenges in their way.
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