Owning an NBA team means endless pressure and endless privilege. Owning the New York Knicks? Even more so.
There’s the power and prestige of being responsible for one of American sports’ flagship franchises. There’s profits, and plenty of ‘em: in last year’s playoffs the Knicks raked in $67 million more than in 2025, for a total of $270 million in quarterly revenue.
Tucked away in the fine print is a property tax exemption for Madison Square Garden that the city granted 45 years ago, when there were fears the Knicks might leave for New Jersey, an exemption worth more than $40 million a year. All in all, a pretty sweet gig.
One might imagine after the magical championship run they just made, all would be well in Knicksville—particularly for the owner. Instead, James Dolan seems to be speedrunning past the Spurs and Thunder as the biggest reason the Knicks won’t repeat in 2027. The latest story about his latest chicanery may not be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But the camel is starting to strain.
The scandal
Joe Vardon reported in The Athletic that the Knick assistant coaches were feeling everything from “anger to annoyance” after not receiving championship rings during Tuesday’s championship ring ceremony. But wait. It gets worse.
Last month, Garden employees received an email informing them they were also getting rings—not quite the $250,000 variety the players did, but nice ones nonetheless. Workers were told to choose between two ring types: “championship gold” and “Knicks classic.” But like so many great Knick teams between 1973 and 2025, all that glitters is not gold.
It turns out the email was fake, having come from the Garden itself. Employees who chose a ring learned there was no ring, and instead received compulsory cybersecurity training.
None of that will show up on the boxscore Friday in Boston. There’s unlikely to be any observable fallout. But small cracks are unobservable until, with time and pressure, they grow into a fracture.
The Knicks were already under unique pressures to repeat
It comes as no surprise that as the NBA has shifted from dynasties to one-and-dones, the odds of repeating have fallen. In four of the past seven preseasons, including this year’s, the defending champion was not the favorite to win it again.
The 2021 Lakers, 2025 Celtics and 2026 Thunder were each the betting faves, but in 2022 the Bucks were third, a year later the Warriors were second and a year after that the Nuggets were co-favorites. The Knicks entered this season tied with the ‘22 Bucks for the worst repeat odds at +900 (if you bet $100 on them to win, you’d win $900). Vegas isn't all-knowing, but it has a wisdom all its own.
The rest of the league hasn’t exactly just sat back in awe and wonder while New York celebrated. The Thunder might be going for a three-peat if Jalen Williams weren’t hurt in the playoffs, and now get to be the hunter instead of the hunted, in the West and the league overall.
The Spurs might have been the ones looking to repeat if De’Aaron Fox didn’t suffer a high ankle sprain in the Western finals. The 76ers reloaded, then opened their campaign beating both of last year’s Eastern finalists. The Pistons have played the Knicks as tough as anybody the past few years. The Celtics are always good. The Cavaliers are...well, the Celtics are always good.
Continuity can cut both ways
One of the biggest reasons the Knicks fancy their chances, particularly in the East, is their continuity. The Sixers made major changes at both starting forward spots and overhauled most of their bench. The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown. The Pistons lost Tobias Harris and welcome Jon Collins, an entirely different player type. Even the analytic champs added Peyton Watson to their starting five, an entirely different player type than Tobias Harris.
Continuity is only a boon if everyone contiguous stays on the same page. If they’re not, it’s a special kind of hell, as anyone who’s ever gone home for the holidays knows. At a certain point, continuity multiplies the smallest differences between sides until there’s an unbreachable distance.
The Knicks are nowhere near that point. But it seems likely there are hurt feelings on the roster and with the workers behind the scenes. Hurt leads to mistrust. Mistrust leads to fracture.
What must KAT be thinking?
Imagine you’re Karl-Anthony Towns. You’ve been a Knick for two years and seen the highest of the highs in that time. Dolan—without need to—finds a radio station in the offseason to share the news he won't go into the second apron. This points to Mitchell Robinson, the longest-tenured Knick, a fan favorite and an indispensable finger in their greater fist, being ushered out (he was).
Towns arrived in 2024 knowing he’d either end up a hero or a goat. There was no in-between. The Knicks were already good before he got here; there wasn’t going to be the same love Amar’e Stoudemire got as the first pilgrim in the bad times to come to the Mecca.
Randle may be more loved by Knicks fans now than when he played in New York. Yet he was so integral to their renaissance that despite giving the home fans a thumbs down during his low point here, he’s as if not more loved by them now than he was even in his salad days.
Towns became a hero. Since then, he’s seen Mitch kicked to the curb. He’s seen his mild comment about extension talks lead to Dolan unilaterally declaring those talks negotiations over. KAT’s going to get paid somewhere by someone soon.
If it's New York, he doesn’t know if Brown will be the coach the whole time. Doesn’t know if Brunson or OG Anunoby will be. The only party guaranteed to be there throughout is the owner. Unless he sells. Which he won't.
Think about the future
The Knicks already have a short window to compete with this group. The key players are beginning their 30s. Dolan already called spending into the second apron as “suicidal.” The only way the Knicks can keep the good times going is, at some point, clearing salary for a trade or a meaningful free agent. That’s true for pretty much every team.
But every team doesn’t have an owner generating this kind of energy as often as this one does. And every team will look to promote whatever edge they can in negotiations with players. Winning may be the best deodorant, but if the fish is rotting from the head it’s gonna stink, period. And while the Knicks are in the middle of a golden age, the main reason they are is not repeatable.
Talk all you like about how brilliant Leon Rose, Worldwide Wes and Brock Aller are. Praise Tom Thibodeau and Mike Brown for the work they’ve done. Appreciate the blood, sweat and tears that went into 2026, and know they started long before then. RJ Barrett played a part. Randle. Immanuel Quickley. Mitch. Marvel at Towns, Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges.
None of it happens if Brunson isn’t Brunson. And I don’t just mean the player he is, though that’s plenty.
Brunson grew up the son of a former Knick, Rick. Rick was Rose’s first client when Rose was a player agent. Rick is now a Knick assistant coach. Rose runs the front office. Jalen knew Thibodeau his entire life, literally from birth. Rose traded for Hart, Brunson’s college teammate. Ditto Donte DiVincenzo. Ditto Bridges. Even Ryan Arcidiacono got some run.
That entangled web of human connection is as big a reason as any why Brunson gave up nine figures worth of money to re-sign in 2024. That allowed them to just barely squeeze in under the second apron with what proved a title-winning roster, featuring OG and KAT both making more than Brunson. Brunson is extension-eligible come June. Doubtful he settles for less this time around.
The Knicks have to appeal to outsiders. Another negative story about another negative action from their owner doesn’t help any. It's still early in the title defense, early in the season. But it's never too early to worry.
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