Knicks Taking On Major International Responsibility

The New York Knicks and the rest of the NBA are part of the biggest basketball league in the world for a sport that continues to grow daily.

The Knicks are one of five teams going overseas during the preseason, joining the Philadelphia 76ers in Abu Dhabi, the New Orleans Pelicans in Melbourne, Australia and the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns in Macao. In addition, the Dallas Mavericks will play the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 1 in Mexico City, while the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic will face off in their regular season series in Berlin, Germany and London, England in the middle of January.

Knicks head coach Mike Brown spoke about the league's growth on a global scale and how the players in New York play a role in that.

“To me, that’s the biggest thing. Adam Silver’s done a fantastic job growing this league as well as everybody else. If you make it to a point where it’s global, everything is going to be better for everybody… all across the board," Brown said via Newsday reporter Steve Popper.

"You can see I would beg to say that basketball is probably when it comes to us, sports, it’s the most global game. Everyone else is trying to follow our lead, [as] the NFL [is doing]. Financially, there’s a lot out there. For the NBA to understand that how many years ago and have teams play overseas, it’s been beneficial for us financially.”

New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown speaks to the media during a media day press conference. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

This is the fourth straight year the league is in Abu Dhabi for preseason exhibition games and the Knicks get to carry on the legacy. In 2022, the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks became the first two teams to play in Abu Dhabi for an NBA exhibition series. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks gave a Western Conference Finals preview in 2023, followed by the two most recent champions in the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets last year.

Now, the Knicks get a chance to get some of that good luck from Abu Dhabi with a pair of games against their division rival 76ers.

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