The Bucks and Lakers raised banners in their arenas after winning the first two NBA Cups in 2023 and 2024, and head coach Mike Brown told his players prior to the 2025 final on Tuesday that the Knicks would do the same if they won.
However, the team has reversed course on that plan, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, who reports that the Knicks won’t hang a banner for this year’s NBA Cup championship after all. A league source tells Bondy that the decision was made because the Knicks are “focused on the bigger picture.”
The team will still celebrate winning the in-season tournament before Friday’s home game against Philadelphia, Bondy writes.
Here’s more on the NBA Cup champs:
- The Knicks have won nine of 10 games since reinserting Josh Hart into their starting five. As Vincent Goodwill of ESPN writes, Brown referred to a November meeting between him and Hart as an important turning point. “I was open and honest,” the Knicks’ head coach said. “He hadn’t played a lot in the preseason because he got hurt early on, so I didn’t have a great feel for how to use him, when to use him, what his game was completely like.” Brown added that Hart took accountability for not playing up to his usual standard early in the season and said the candor in that meeting helped their relationship grow.
- While Brown was focused early in the season on implementing his own offensive system, rival coaches believe he has pushed those changes less aggressively as of late and has been more inclined to simply let his players do what they do best, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. “The first 10 or 12 games, it felt like they were running more,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Now, it seems like they’re settling into personnel. They’re playing a little bit more to the strengths of their main players, but at the same time try to implement ball movement and body movement. Obviously, they’re a very talented team, so it’s the right thing to do to focus on the strengths of those guys and let them be who they are.”
- OG Anunoby (28 points) and Jalen Brunson (25) were the Knicks’ top scorers in Tuesday’s NBA Cup victory, but a handful of reserves provided crucial contributions off the bench. Bondy of The New York Post singles out center Mitchell Robinson, who racked up 10 offensive rebounds in just 18 minutes of action, while Jared Schwartz of The New York Post takes a look at the contributions the team is getting from second-year guard Tyler Kolek, whose 14 points and five rebounds on Tuesday would be career highs if the game had counted toward the regular season.
- In case you missed it, we wrote earlier today about the Knicks players who benefited most from the $531K bonus for winning the NBA Cup.