The New York Knicks followed up their NBA Championship victory with three straight losses to start the 2026-27 regular season. Backup guard Jose Alvarado played just 10 minutes in the second of those losses, setting third-stringer Tyler Kolek up with an opportunity.
Alvarado resumed his duties against the Brooklyn Nets; head coach Mike Brown told reporters before the game that, as well as Kolek had played in Alvarado's absence, he ultimately didn't want to penalize the Brooklynite for getting hurt. The Knicks struggled enough that very night, though, for the coach to go back to Kolek.
Since then, the guard seemingly hasn't let go of his hold on the team's backup point guard spot. He played over Jalen Brunson for roughly the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. After Kolek's performance in the loss, the 25-year-old is averaging 5.0 assists to just 0.6 turnovers per game. Potentially most importantly, though, is the young guard's chemistry with star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
By the numbers, Kolek bringing out the best in Towns isn't anything new
Ahead of the Knicks' Wednesday night loss, Knicks Film School's DJ Zullo praised Kolek and Towns' on/off splits in a post on Twitter. The film analyst took to the numbers to point out that, over what was a 570-minute sample size at the time, the duo had produced a +15.8 net rating.
Across the three different NBA seasons the two have spent as teammates, the Knicks have a +5.8 net rating in 4,579 minutes with Towns and without Kolek. The team has played over 2,700 minutes with both players sidelined in that time, producing a +5.1 net rating. Lineups with both Towns and Kolek have provided the Knicks with better offensive and defensive ratings than either of the other two scenarios.
Last season, Alvarado acclimated himself quickly by understanding that getting Towns the ball — and opportunities to make plays on offense — was paramount to his own success with the team. Kolek clearly understands that, too. So long as he continues to defend at a high enough level to allow Brown to trust him in high-leverage situations, the benefits of his offense may very well outweigh all other alternatives.
Towns is one of several Knicks looking for a contract extension. Having a guard that excels at feeding him scoring opportunities should certainly help his case. The Knicks' star center had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists against the Cavaliers the day after tallying 21 points and 16 rebounds against the Milwaukee Bucks. In New York's first game against Cleveland, he had 29 points and 13 rebounds.
In an NBA where Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama both took less than their maximums on their most recent contract extensions, Towns simply can't take it personally that the Knicks won't immediately surpass the second apron to keep him around long-term. He can, however, control as much of his fate as possible by continuing to play like this. Kolek seems glad to help him do it — which helps the Knicks win.
Kolek is seizing opportunities Brown is giving him to keep Knicks hungry
Even after winning the 2026 NBA Championship, the Knicks are hungry for more. It may not have looked like it in the three consecutive losses they produced to start their title defense.
In the second of those three losses, though, head coach Mike Brown benched starting wing Mikal Bridges for Landry Shamet down the stretch of the fourth quarter. In the third, Brown deployed James Wiseman as his second-half backup center in response to unsatisfactory play from offseason signing Andre Drummond.
The coach, now having a championship-level standard to uphold, seems to have raised the bar. Players, like Kolek, are ultimately responding to his challenges.
Amid their championship celebrations, fans were justified in spending the 2026 offseason wondering about those potential contract extensions for Towns, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride. Kolek, however, was also eligible for a new deal. He flew under the radar. If he keeps this kind of play up, he'll certainly become a relevant part of those conversations as well.
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