On Tuesday, the New York Knicks held their annual NBA Media Day in preparation for the upcoming 2025-26 season. The Knicks are looking to build off last year's trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games.
The most notable move the Knicks made over the offseason was firing head coach Tom Thibodeau, and recently, New York forward Josh Hart spoke on how he has handled that switch.
“I love Thibs and will always love Thibs. He put me in the position to be successful and get paid,” said Hart, per James L. Edwards III on Bluesky. Edwards III also noted that Hart “said he's also very excited about the addition of Mike Brown.”
For the last game of the Eastern Conference Finals last year, Thibodeau elected to bring Hart off the bench, and the forward had a hilarious response when the idea of that carrying over to this year was floated.
“If I don't start, I'll probably ask for a trade,” he joked.
“I think I'm a starter in the league. At the end of the day, it's what (Mike Brown decides) is best for the team,” he added.
A big season for the Knicks
While the New York Knicks have only been in real contention during the Jalen Brunson era for one or two years, the clock is already ticking on the team to make something happen, as all of their core players are 28 years old or above.
Outside of re-signing Mikal Bridges, the Knicks didn't do a ton from a roster perspective this summer, making a couple of savvy bench moves by bringing in Jordan Clarkson and Malcolm Brogdon.
The team will hope that Brown is able to find a way around the obvious dilemma of having its two best players–Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns–both as clear negatives on the defensive end of the floor, something the Pacers thoroughly exposed in last year's playoff series.
In any case, the Knicks are set to kick off their 2025-26 season at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 22
