After the briefest of summer vacations, the New York Knicks are back to work, now with “NBA champions” attached to their name.
Whether they are called the reigning or defending champions matters little to Jalen Brunson. His focus is on starting anew and getting this team in the right frame of mind for the start of the season.
“The way we approached it last year was take it one day at a time every single day. I’ve talked about certain things. Obviously, we know what it takes, but just go into the same mindset for this journey,” Brunson said at the team’s media day Monday. “We know it’s a new journey, it’s a different journey, but the mindset has to be the same, if not better.”
The journey will not be easy at the beginning. The October schedule includes two games against the Philadelphia 76ers, one against the Boston Celtics and one with the Detroit Pistons, all teams looking to knock off the defending champions.
“The first couple weeks of the season is going to show who we are and where we are,” Brunson said.
The Knicks swept the Sixers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, part of a 12-1 run across the final three series en route to the franchise’s first championship in 53 years. The Pistons and Celtics finished ahead of New York (53-29) in the regular-season standings but never faced either in the postseason after Boston fell in the opening round and Detroit lost in the second.
Brunson said that communication and accountability remain key to success.
“No matter what we’re doing, whether we’re playing great or we’re playing bad, how do we deal with it and learn? We’ll hold each other accountable, just like we did last year, and be better,” Brunson said.
Coach Mike Brown preached something similar.
“Upholding our commitment to our standards … that’s not going to change. Our standards are sacrifice, being connected, having a competitive spirit and having a belief in each other in the process. That’s our primary focus going into the year. No matter what we accomplished, moving forward, like I said, our standards and how we approach our process is going to be real critical,” Brown said.
The Knicks brought back almost their entire playoff rotation. The lone exception was backup center Mitchell Robinson, who signed a three-year, $47.4 million contract with the Celtics. His replacement is veteran Andre Drummond, who played for Philly last season.
But unity might be elusive if standouts Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart begin to wonder about their futures amid uncertainty about their potential contract extensions.
“Winning can either help us or hurt us, but I think we have the personnel and the character to talk with each other and not take things personal when things are said,” Brunson said. “It helped us last year and we need to continue that.”
Brunson said he’ll see how his surgically repaired wrist reacts early on. He added that he felt fine playing through the injury in the playoffs.
