The New York Knicks are your reigning NBA Champions, and one particular rival's own father believes they have a great shot at going back-to-back this coming season.
During a recent appearance on the Ultimate Dads Podcast, Justin Tatum, father of Celtics cornerstone Jayson Tatum, publicly blasted his son's own squad, calling their roster "sh*t" when explaining his reasoning behind why he wouldn't choose Boston to win the 2027 NBA Finals.
This Celtics team has undergone some highly controversial shakeups this offseason, not only ones that saw stars like Jaylen Brown be shipped out in exchange for mere pennies on the dollar, but also ones that saw them settle for clearly over-the-hill veterans like Mike Conley Jr. and high-risk free agents such as the beloved, albeit injury-prone, former Knicks big, Mitchell Robinson.
With this, Tatum seemed to be far from confident in Boston's ability to contend for a title this coming year.
Upon being pressed by LaVar Ball, father of NBA guards Lonzo and LaMelo as well as the host of the podcast, to share his thoughts on who he believes could win it all, with a heavy sigh, the All-Star's father said, "realistically, I might say New York might run it back."
Considering the Knicks find themselves returning the vast majority of their title-winning core that absolutely dominated this past postseason with their historic plus-283 point differential, it's hard to argue against such a take.
Knicks looking to snap long-standing repeat streak
Justin Tatum may be the most curious figure to vocalize his support of a Knicks championship repeat, but he's far from the only one who believes such a feat could take place.
Even the odds-makers have New York as a top-three threat to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2027.
Now, though it's certainly possible given they have a large chunk of their championship rotation returning for the upcoming season, recent trends suggest that it is far from likely.
Even with teams like the Nuggets, led by the best player in basketball, Nikola Jokic, or legitimate dynasty-pushing squads such as Oklahoma City out there, there has yet to be a single repeat champion in the association in nearly a decade.
In fact, the last team to achieve such a task was the Stephen Curry- and Kevin Durant-led Golden State Warriors back in 2018.
So while it's certainly possible the Knicks could wind up being the ones to snap this long-standing repeat drought, in this anti-parity era of the NBA, doing so will be far from easy.
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