Knicks Raise Championship Banner 53 Years in the Making

The New York Knicks officially celebrated their 2025-26 NBA championship Tuesday night with a banner-raising ceremony at Madison Square Garden, 53 years after the franchise's last title.

At 6:57 p.m., guard Jalen Brunson spoke before the banner for the 2025-26 championship season began its ascent to the rafters. The team then posed in front of the newly unveiled banner, a symbol of their championship run that concluded on June 13.

This moment also marked the end of a 13-year wait since the Knicks last had a banner added to the Garden rafters, which was for the 2012-13 Atlantic Division title.

The team wore white quarter-zip sweaters with gold lettering, and their jerseys underneath featured gold lettering and numbers, along with a championship patch.

Executives and coaches were the first to receive their championship rings, followed by the players. Even Ariel Hukporti, who joined the 76ers in the offseason but sustained an Achilles injury, was present to accept his ring. The starting five — Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, and Brunson — received their rings last.

With the celebration complete, the focus shifted to the present and the challenge of repeating as champions. The Knicks opened their season against the Philadelphia 76ers, a team widely considered their primary contender.

"We're excited to get this season going," Brunson said. "We're ready to turn the page as a team. But one thing I wanted to say — the joy that the city had this summer, we would love to replicate that again."

Head coach Mike Brown acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the emotional weight of the ceremony with the immediate task of starting the new season. "It's tough, because this could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Brown said. "You never know. It's hard. It's hard to accomplish something like this. You definitely want guys to embrace it and celebrate it with each other because they went through a lot... But in the same breath, we obviously have a job to do tonight."

The opening tip at 7:18 p.m. signaled the official conclusion of the championship festivities and the beginning of the new season.