10/20/2026 04:59:00
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10/20 16:58 CDT Knicks start their championship celebration by hanging an NBA
Cup banner they previously refused
Knicks start their championship celebration by hanging an NBA Cup banner they
previously refused
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- The New York Knicks are having a banner night --- two of them
--- on Tuesday.
Before raising their championship banner ahead of their season opener against
the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA champions hung one at Madison Square Garden to
celebrate the NBA Cup title they won last season.
The Knicks broke with tradition last December when they became the first team
to win the in-season tournament and then not commemorate it with a banner. They
said at the time they were looking ahead to bigger things.
They ended up getting the biggest thing possible by beating the San Antonio
Spurs in the NBA Finals for their first championship since 1973.
The Knicks also defeated the Spurs in the NBA Cup final. The NBA Cup banner
went up sometime after the Sixers held their morning shootaround at the arena.
"I haven't seen it, but I think it's just a recognition of what our journey was
like last year, you know?" coach Mike Brown said. "There were a lot of,
obviously, ups and downs throughout the course of the year, and our guys
rallied and figured out a way to win the NBA Cup, and then you go ahead and win
the regular season final, or excuse me, the end of season final, and it's just
a recognition to not just to our guys, but to the fans out there."
The NBA Cup banner was the first hung at Madison Square Garden by the Knicks
since they won the Atlantic Division title in 2012-13.
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