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“Knicks in 5” hasn’t stopped the doubters in the NBA.
Only one of the league’s 30 general managers picked the Knicks to win the championship this season according to the annual GM survey published Thursday on NBA.com, which is the fewest for a defending champ since Toronto in 2019-20.
In the case of the Raptors, Kawhi Leonard — the Finals MVP — had just left in free agency for the Clippers.
But these Knicks are returning the entire starting lineup that helped set the league record for positive point differential in the playoffs.
The Spurs, whom the Knicks toppled in the 2026 Finals, received 50 percent of the GM votes for the next champion. The Thunder were second with 43 percent of the votes. The Knicks and Sixers each received 3 percent — or just one vote.
The GMs weren’t allowed to pick their own teams or players.
Despite the lack of faith in the Knicks to repeat, 60 percent of the GMs picked New York to emerge from the East — which was well above the No. 2 Sixers at 23 percent. It was the first time in the survey’s history — which dates to 2002 — that the Knicks were picked to win the conference.
But the league’s decision-makers clearly don’t believe New York can topple the West champs, specifically the Spurs or Thunder.
For the categories about individual players and coaches, Jalen Brunson and Mike Brown received plenty of love.
Most notably, Brunson was voted as the NBA’s best leader with 53 percent of the votes, well above the 20 percent for Stephen Curry. It provided Brown an opportunity to praise his team captain.
“He studies the game, and that helps a lot,” Brown said. “He walks the talk. He works extremely hard, and he strives for perfection from himself. And when you do that — and when your peers see you do that and you’re looked upon as the best player on the team — it gives credibility to tell somebody else when they’re not giving their all, when they need to be better. But just as importantly, he’s not afraid. Because as a leader, sometimes you have to be on an island.”
Brunson was also voted second for the top clutch player in the NBA, behind Curry. Brunson was also third for future best coach.
Brown took third for best current coach (behind Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and OKC’s Mark Daigneault) and fourth for top motivator (behind Spoelstra, Boston’s Joe Mazzulla and Golden State’s Steve Kerr).