The NBA regular season debut sits just days away, finally ending a several-months-long period of last spring's playoff exits ruminating in the minds of the league, its players and the fans attached.
The New York Knicks could have coasted on their momentum, making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals to end a quarter-century drought, but they opted to bolster their chances in 2026 by tweaking along the margins. Their core remained, but they improved upon their depth in free agency and brought in a coach better-equipped to use all of the pieces at his disposal in Mike Brown.
That same optimism hasn't been shared by the Boston Celtics, who find their hopes for building upon their gaudy ring count suddenly halted in waiting on Jayson Tatum's ACL recovery. He suffered that injury against the Knicks in the second round of these most recent playoffs, with that loss leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of plenty of Bostonites.
Jaylen Brown hasn't forgotten last season's disappointing finish, with his Celtics finishing as the No. 2 seed to just beat out the Knicks entering the postseason. He spoke on the defeat as a featured subject in Netflix's "Starting 5," providing more candid thoughts than many have heard before.
"Last year we were a championship team, we won the championship, duckboats, champagne. This year, we gotta listen to insufferable Knicks fans," Brown said. "I don't know how we lost in general, but...we lost."
Jaylen Brown on the highs and lows of the NBA:
— CelticsGlobe (@celtsglobe) October 16, 2025
“Last year we won the championship. Duckboats, champagne… this year we gotta listen to insufferable Knicks fans. I don’t know how we lost in general…”
pic.twitter.com/gn5PfJTWVS
New Yorkers were certainly not shy after the Knicks' upset win, and characteristically so. But the back-to-back playoff wins tapped into the spirit of the starved Knicks fan, thrilled to see the team seriously contend for a title for the first time in decades, and they gave the Indiana Pacers a captivating fight in an eventual six-game loss.
The Celtics, much like the Pacers after them, had to stomach watching their best player leave the floor before the final buzzer, sending both of the contenders into a season of waiting to regroup.
"It's a part of the game, you gotta accept both, the highs and the lows," Brown said in attempting to rebound, and the Knicks will get a chance to continue asserting their will in another season full of inter-divisional matchups.
Their own preseason odds look better than ever before, with the experts frequently predicting the Knicks to have a real shot at representing their conference in the NBA Finals for the first time this century. If things go their way, this may just be the beginning of Brown having to hear the New Yorkers.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!