There is no shortage of opinions on what made the Knicks champions this year, but hearing it from a player who actually shared the floor with them hits different. Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick out of Duke back in 2022, has faced New York himself and knows exactly what makes a team dangerous in June.
So when he sat down on The Stephen A. Smith Show fresh off the Knicks’ title run, his answer to one simple question said a lot about how the rest of the league saw this team coming.
Paolo Banchero Breaks Down What He Saw From Jalen Brunson’s Knicks
GettyPaolo Banchero Makes Huge Knicks Championship Admission About Jalen Brunson
Banchero joined The Stephen A. Smith Show, where the two got into a conversation about the Knicks and what made this year’s title run different. Smith asked him straight up if he saw it coming, and Banchero wasted no time backing himself.
“I’m not gonna lie. You go ask anybody. I called it. I called it. I saw the just the way they were playing, you know the way they were playing that first round series against Atlanta after they lost the game.”
That loss turned into a launching pad. Banchero brought up the winning streak that followed as the stretch where it all clicked for him.
“And then going on, you know the rest of the playoffs like they went like 19 straight games without losing and you could just see it. You know, they were clicking, you know KAT was playing a lot better, right? And they were looking a lot more balanced.”
His confidence only grew from there. Once the Western Conference finals got going, Banchero said he had already made up his mind on who he liked out of the East.
“And I was telling my homies when the Western Conference finals is going on, you know, my homies were you know they think the West is a lot better than the East and I was telling them I’m like man whoever comes out the West I got in New York.”
Why the Entire Knicks Roster Stood Out to Paolo Banchero
GettyPaolo Banchero Sends Strong Message on Jalen Brunson’s Championship Knicks
It wasn’t just a gut feeling for Banchero. He had firsthand experience with this Knicks group, going back to a meeting between the two sides earlier in the season.
“I just thought they were the best team this year even going back to NBA Cup, you know, we were out there we played them. Yeah in the semifinals.”
That experience shaped how he broke down the roster, starting with the engine that makes the offense go.
“So just I thought they were the most complete team offensively defensively. Offensively, they’re really hard to stop. Obviously you got Brunson who’s the head of the snake.”
The list didn’t stop with Brunson either. Banchero ran through the names around him that gave New York the kind of depth most contenders wish they had.
“But then you look it’s bridges. It’s KAT. It’s OG. You got Mitchell coming in on the glass you got McBride like they just had a complete team in my eyes and you know, they they really showed that in the playoffs.”
By the end of the conversation, Banchero admitted the outcome had started to feel like a formality.
“It it was like almost especially towards the end. It kind of felt inevitable, you know, some of their games right like.”
How the Knicks Actually Won the NBA Championship
GettyPaolo Banchero Had Bold Knicks Championship Prediction Before NBA Finals
The tape backs up everything Banchero said. New York had already gotten a look at San Antonio in the NBA Cup final back in December, so neither side was catching the other by surprise come June.
The first round against Atlanta wasn’t easy, but that early stumble seemed to snap the Knicks into form rather than shake them. From there, New York rode the streak Banchero mentioned through the East, then kept clawing back from big deficits against the Spurs to close the Finals in five.
Brunson ran the show all year, but the balance around him made the difference. Bridges and Anunoby handled the tough matchups, Towns gave New York size it hasn’t had in years, and the bench held up when it mattered most. That group now turns its attention to defending the crown next season.
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