As the New York Knicks attempt to become the first repeat champion since the Golden State Warriors, they are already meeting a major benchmark that bodes well for their chances: roster continuity.
Not just any roster continuity, mind you. We’re talking about the kind of roster continuity that has, historically, proven to be a prerequisite for successful repeats.
This can come across as cognitively dissonant after Mitchell Robinson left for the Boston Celtics. He was seventh on the team in total minutes last season, and the best backup center in the NBA. New York is going to feel his absence in some capacity.
Even without Robinson, though, the Knicks still have 87.7 percent of last year’s regular-season minutes on the roster—a gargantuan number in lockstep with most back-to-back champs.
Roster continuity is crucial to repeat title bids
Including squads that won more than two consecutive championships, the Association has seen 22 repeat-title seasons since 1951, which is as far back as Basketball Reference’s roster-continuity data goes. During this span, the average repeater has returned 88.4 percent of the previous season’s minutes. That’s on par with the Knicks having 87.7 percent on the docket.
What’s more, the overwhelming majority of consecutive banner-raisers has almost never fallen below the 80 percent threshold. Of the 22 repeat-title winners from our window, only three carried fewer than 80 percent of the previous year’s minutes on their roster.
Encouraging still, the Knicks’ roster continuity actually towers over the most recent teams to win consecutive trophies. The modern-day NBA is more subject to player movement overall, and the addition of two-way contracts has paved the way for more annual churn as well as deeper rotations.
With this in mind, here are the roster-continuity scores for the past five repeat champs:
- 2017-18 Golden State Warriors: 81 percent
- 2012-13 Miami Heat: 82 percent
- 2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers: 87 percent
- 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers: 79 percent
- 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers: 72 percent
The Knicks’ roster continuity isn’t everything, but it’s something
Retaining a lion’s share of the core is merely part of the Knicks’ battle. Last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned 93 percent of the minutes from their 2025 title, and their follow-up campaign ended without another parade.
Stuff happens. Injuries crop up. New superpowers emerge. But keeping your nucleus intact is its own superpower.
Though New York didn’t have any starters hit the open market, a huge chunk of their depth reached free agency. Any one of Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson, and Mohamed Diawara could have followed Robinson out the door. They didn’t. And with everyone other than Clarkson either still in or having not yet entered their prime, the Knicks’ roster continuity isn’t just for-show.
It carries substance.
This isn’t grounds to retrofit Madison Square Garden for another banner before New York hangs its 2025-26 memento. But along with the historically dominant playoff run the Knicks just completed, we have enough evidence to reasonably believe their repeat bid should be taken more seriously.
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