Usually, coming off a championship, the key players on that title-winning team are viewed more favorably than they were entering the year. When a player plays a substantial role in bringing home the Larry O’Brien Trophy, it forever changes their legacy.
That should be doubly true for members of the 2025–26 New York Knicks. Even the last man on the bench will always be remembered fondly by the fan base for being on the squad that ended the team’s 53-year title drought.
This week, ESPN has been releasing its NBA Rank 2026. NBA Rank 2026 predicts the top 100 players for the 2026-27 season.
Two Knicks starters—Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart—fell substantially from where they were on last year’s list. They fell a combined 33 spots from their place on last year's rankings.
Both Bridges and Hart seem to be undervalued by ESPN
Both Bridges’ and Hart’s rankings were revealed on Tuesday, when ESPN released its rankings for players No. 51–100. Bridges fell 13 spots from last year, going from 48th to 61st. Hart dropped even further than Bridges, falling a whopping 20 spots from 69th to 89th.
Now, both players are in their 30s, but they aren’t old enough for age-related declines to be a major concern. Hart will turn 32 late in the regular season, on March 6, while Bridges will play the entire season at age 30.
Entering his 10th NBA season, Hart is coming off a career-best 41.3% three-point accuracy in 2025–26. Yes, his averages declined from 2024–25, but that’s more because head coach Mike Brown didn’t overtax him as much as his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, often did. Hart played more than seven fewer minutes per game in 2025–26 than he did in 2024–25.
After some scoring duds to start last season’s playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, Bridges proved to be vital during the title run. The NBA’s current iron man will never have a usage rate as high as his time with the Brooklyn Nets, but he’s been a very efficient scorer in New York. Shooting from the corner is nearly an automatic shot for the eighth-year pro.
ESPN’s NBA Rank 2026 will cause a lot of debate among fans. It was jarring to see both Hart and Bridges fall so much in the rankings. In the end, though, they are both champions, and it doesn’t really matter what ESPN thinks about their standing in the league.
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