Steve Popper: Knicks enjoy praise but know there's work to do in order to repeat as NBA champs
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson points after a foul call against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
GREENBURGH — As training camps across the NBA opened Monday, the Knicks not only were the main subject at their own camp but found themselves the main story among some of the other stars in the league.
The 76ers’ LeBron James declared that if the Knicks hadn’t won the NBA title, they would have been his first choice for a new team. The Heat’s Giannis Antetokounmpo said, “Right now, the best team in the NBA is the New York Knicks and they have one of the best players, Jalen Brunson.”
At their training center, the Knicks are trying to focus on the task at hand. They hadn’t won a title in 53 years. Now they are trying to repeat for the first time in 53 years.
“I really do appreciate it and I respect the hell out of them,” Brunson said. “It’s honestly really cool and it’s a sign of respect. To hear that from those guys, I really do appreciate it.
“It’s just like a lot of things. When you hear praise, when you hear negativity, it has to go through one ear and out the other. You got to continue to be the best version of yourself or people are going to pass you. I really do appreciate it. It shows where I’ve grown, but still got a lot of work to do.”
Maybe it’s the 53-year wait that makes the reaction around town different in New York than it might be in an area more familiar with a title chase.
The kind words from some of the stars of the NBA seem mild compared to how the Knicks spent their summer.
There was the parade. Mike Brown got calls from other coaches and even former players. There have been television appearances, podcasts and nights out at the World Cup, the U.S. Open, Yankee Stadium and just about anywhere else you might imagine.
But more than that, there have been the interactions on the streets, the meetings with fans.
And they might be more than you would picture.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not funny, but in a sense of, like, I have people coming to me and saying ‘I haven’t talked to my family member in 10 years,’ ” Deuce McBride said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, we should not be the reason that’s happening.’ But you know, that’s cool to hear. Like I said, it’s not what I want to hear necessarily, but those are cool moments to hear that what we’re doing on the court was able to bring people back together.”
Nearly two months after the title was secured, Brown had that kind of experience while riding his motorcycle to his home.
“I stopped at the red light,” he recalled. “The first vehicle was kind of honking at me and I could see the kids waving out. So I go through and they turn into a driveway three or four houses past the red light and the father and kids jump out of the car and start waving and they had their Knicks gear on and I gave them a wave.
“But I had my helmet and my sunglasses, so I didn’t think anybody noticed me. So I ride home and I’ve got my country music blasting, and I pull into my driveway in my garage, and the next thing you know, that car was pulling into my driveway. They followed me home.
“I don’t know how they got back in their car that quickly and followed me home. But they followed me home. And the guy owns a company and he had some food products, so he brings out a box of cereal and all that. And he’s got his three kids and they just start telling me what the championship meant . . .
“This is like August, two months after the championship, but you could still feel that passion. So was it scary? Yes. It was scary. Any time you get followed home, it is very, very scary, but just to see the joy and excitement, especially on kids’ faces.
“The dad was more excited than the kids, by the way, but to see that, you realize this is not just a championship. This is special.”
Security for Shamet
Since being waived by Washington two years ago, Landry Shamet has had to fight his way into a job. An injury halted his effort to join the Knicks at the start of the 2024-25 season and he needed to win a spot in training camp last season. But after playing a key role in the Knicks’ march to the championship, Shamet got the security of a four-year, $24 million deal from the Knicks during the summer.
“Last couple of years, I’ve been pretty open with you guys,” he said. “It definitely gives you a sense of perspective and appreciation that I’m grateful for. To be believed in and have that offered to me, for me and Cammi [Aimonetti, his fiancee] to be able to stay here in New York and continue to grow this thing, it’s pretty special.
“To be asked to be a part of it is humbling and I’m grateful for it every day. It means a lot.”
“In a way, it just makes me proud of myself. That’s why you work through the difficult times and the challenging and the questioning ones. Typically, there’s really good stuff on the other end of that. It feels good, it feels good to be a part of this moving forward. I don’t want to drop my level or get complacent or any of that, that’s definitely not the feeling. It’s more, it just feels good to know you don’t have that heavy, heavy wave running on [you] again this training camp.”
Sophomore strides?
Mo Diawara became an important part of the Knicks’ rotation early last season as a rookie but saw his opportunities fade down the stretch. In summer league play, he struggled and suffered a small fracture to the ring finger on his left hand. Now he is healthy and, after signing a new contract, hopeful of contributing more.
“Honestly, It didn’t really need explanation,” he said of being cut out of the rotation. “I think I was a rookie. That was my first year. So you just got to be ready, whatever the team wants you to do. I think we have a great team with big players, so if I was in a rotation and I’m not in a rotation anymore, I think it’s just part of the game for all teams and just got to do my role, especially as a rookie.”
“Last year, you could see he was a little jittery when he was out there because he didn’t quite know what to do,” Brown said.
“And he knew when he did it, he just had to go hard, so a lot of times, he would just play at one speed. There’s a comfort level now, so his cadence is better, especially offensively.
"His ability to communicate on the floor is at a little higher level because he has a better feel, not just offensively but defensively, of what not only he should do but what he should be telling his teammates to do, especially when he’s on the back side or bottom side of the defense. Because he sees everything in front of him. So he’s one of those players that needs to take a step forward.”
First look
Brown said the minutes will be limited, but he expects to use his starters Monday when the Knicks kick off the preseason schedule in Philadelphia.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
