2026-27 Knicks preview: Mike Brown knows his team will be hunted

The noise that comes with winning an NBA title and then trying to defend it is plenty loud for the New York Knicks, who have a banner-raising and ring ceremony, succeeded by an actual basketball game on Tuesday night.  It's a completely different vantage point for head coach Mike Brown and his team to be in, and the challenges of defending a championship that come with it are immense. “That’s why it hasn’t happened in the NBA in the last eight, nine years," Brown said. "In all of sports, you don’t hear a ton about back-to-back champions in the modern sports world, no matter what sport it is you’re playing. The added 'pressure' that some people may allow to seep in as the year goes on; there could be more jealousy that the team is not connected, and people forget about sacrificing for the betterment of the team. "Everybody has naturally been telling you how great you are the whole summer, and so you think you’re great, and you don’t have to go through and/or embrace the process lik