Knicks Are Still Breaking Other Coaches’ Brains Even in Offseason

What was it about the New York Knicks winning their first championship in 53 years that seemed to break coaches' brains? It started when Kenny Atkinson made the asinine comment about the Cavaliers being up 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals "if you go by the analytics."

That somehow wasn't the last remark like that, though. With the 2025-2026 NBA season put to rest, the sentiments questioning the Knicks still aren't over.

The latest barb came from Sean Sweeney, the former associate head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. When asked about the NBA Finals on Ryan Russillo's Barstool Sports podcast, Sweeney said the Spurs would have won that series if the games had been shorter.

"One, I think there's a little attrition having to go through the previous series. Two, bad luck," Sweeney told Russillo on his podcast. "They told me if the games were like 46 minutes or whatever, we would have won 4-1."

San Antonio Spurs assistant head coach Sean Sweeney observes the second half of play during game five of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Frost Bank Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Between the comment about time and saying his old squad ran into bad luck, it's yet another instance where a coach feels adamant about downplaying what the Knicks did. It's not to say that the Spurs and Cavaliers weren't great teams. They were.

But the Knicks were better, and the team's sordid history, which saw decade after decade of heartbreak, can finally be put to rest now.

The Knicks were great — not lucky

It could be New York's history that has coaches like Sweeney and Atkinson feeling like their respective squads shouldn't have lost, but what transpired over five decades is not relevant to what the Knicks did this year.

The fact is, these Knicks were not these plucky underdogs who got hot at the right time. They were the three seed in the East heading into the playoffs and one of the favorites to make it to the Finals before the postseason even began.

It's hard to win 13 straight games at any point in the season, and it took a truly great team like these Knicks to pull that off. They dropped a game to the Hawks on April 23 and didn't lose again until June 8.

Then there's the fact that Jalen Brunson has the innate ability to hit another level in the fourth quarter. During these playoffs, he lived up to the Clutch Player of the Year award that he won the year prior.

Brunson averaged 9.9 points in the fourth quarter during the playoffs. He was one of two players who have accomplished that in NBA History. He did it again last year, and then there was Dirk Nowitzki, who averaged 10.1 fourth-quarter playoff points in 2024.

Brunson alos accounted for 42.7% of the Knicks' points in the fourth quarter during the Finals. It's the highest since Nowitzki's 43.7% in 2011.

Brunson came through. Wemby did not. Luck wasn't a factor in that happening, either. You can't dominate in the biggest moments like that time and time again without it simply being the norm.

This is a carefully crafted roster, not just an assortment of random talent

From the moment Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving went to the Brooklyn Nets, forcing the pivot to Julius Randle, Leon Rose carefully crafted the Knicks. Winning a championship wasn't just the culmination of having one or two good offseasons before finally hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy.

It took years and years of work and the delicate swapping out of players for ones that better fit the puzzle, even if the moves were unpopular. There was the deal that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto for OG Anunoby. Then there was Randle and the popular Donte DiVincenzo for Karl-Anthony Towns.

Every trade and signing was made to help further the Knicks' chances of winning a championship, and that was exactly what happened this year. Sweeney may not believe the Spurs should have lost, but at some point, he'll have to come to terms with reality. The player who was thought to be too small slew his giant when it mattered most.

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