Look at the bright side of life: the summer is ahead, and a swimming pool near you is already open!

Day one of the offseason.

T-minus 364 days until the 2026 NBA Finals tip off for Game 1 inside Madison Square Garden.

A few soundbites we missed from the worst Saturday in the past 25 years of Knicks history.

Tom Thibodeau

On the offseason’s challenges:

“There were a lot of moving parts. But we kept fighting and moving forward, and I’ve got great respect for that.”

On offseason planning and what’s next:

“Like you would do after every season, take a step back, you decompress, you do a deep dive on the team. And then you analyze what you think you need to improve upon. We have the draft, and we have free agency, and there’s trades and then there’s the internal development and there’s the study and preparation for next season. So it’s a big offseason for us.”

On Pascal Siakam’s ECF:

“His ability to run the floor, his ability to play in the paint, his ability to face the basket, to put it on the floor, he’s a tough cover. Sometimes, you can play him well, and because of his size and his release he can still get a shot up. And it’s always a good shot.

“Hat’s off to him. He had a big-time series.”

Mitchell Robinson

On his feelings after the season-ending loss:

“Shitty, bro. Like shit. I don’t even got words, to be honest with you. Obviously, I didn’t play the full year, came back in, what, late February, March and grinded the whole time all the way up to this point. I’m happy that we got this far, but I don’t know, man. We gave away two [games] at home early, then we were playing out of a hole, and you can’t do that.”

On his performance through the ECF series:

“I should’ve kept my energy up, but I feel like I didn’t play to my full potential.”

Josh Hart

On expecting changes in the team’s future:

“This is my eighth year. This is my fourth organization. I’ve had six or seven coaches. It’s tough, we’re going to have to see. Don’t think you can ever be too comfortable. I’ll open [the X app] one day and I’m somewhere else. That’s what’s disappointing the most, knowing there’s a good chance this team might not be back in totality.”

On wanting the Knicks to stay together:

“You’re always going to hear me say, ‘Run it back.’ I think you heard me say the same thing last year with the guys we had. I’d like to do it. I feel like this team is good enough to make the next step. But it’s a business. And when you don’t get to where you feel like you could’ve or should’ve, changes are made.”

On his performance in the ECF:

“I felt like I was playing hard, trying to find it. I had some good games and then some bad games. Just trying to find it. I couldn’t find it. Obviously, extremely disappointed. Could’ve and should’ve played better. That’s gonna sting for a while.”

Jalen Brunson

On his faith in the team:

“I’ve got a lot of faith in this group. No one sees the things that me and [KAT] see every day. No one sees the type of people that we have, the workers that we have. That’s what gives me the confidence, and I’m OK with that. I don’t care what people think about us on the outside. I know what we’ve got.”

On the team’s work ethic:

“We have a lot of guys who are on this team, and I feel like you guys always ask, ‘What do you work on?’ whenever you come back [from the offseason]. And from what I’ve seen, no one’s really out there posting themselves about the things that they do. We have a lot of guys that just genuinely want to work hard to be better, and I like that, and I appreciate my teammates and everything they do and everything they believe in.”

Mikal Bridges

On his first season with the Knicks:

“First year: A lot of adversity for everybody and battled through. Just first year, got to get better for next year.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On Pascal Siakam’s series:

“He hit some tough shots. He did a great job of pushing his pace and making us have to guard him, and not in a half-court set. [Pacers head coach] Rick Carlisle and the team had a game plan to keep it going. Obviously, we did our best to minimize the damage he could do in this series and this game. But sometimes great players can be great players.”

Pascal Siakam

On his personal journey:

“It’s been a crazy journey. A lot of ups and downs. I know I’m not the guy everyone’s gonna talk about a lot and all that stuff, and I really don’t care about it. I’m just a young kid from Cameroon that moved to the U.S. when he was 18 years old and gave everything to the game of basketball.”