Count Joe Tsai among the few in New York City who are less than thrilled by the Knicks ending their 53-year NBA championship drought.
That’s because the city’s most beloved basketball franchise hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy before the Nets owner and his team could get their hands on it for the first time — despite the franchise’s best efforts.
Tsai, who has fully owned the Nets since 2019, was asked about the Knicks winning it all by Nets Daily and if it would change his approach to jump-starting the Nets.
“Every year, some team is going to win a championship,” Tsai said. “So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good. It irates our fanbase, and it is embarrassing, but in business or in competition, in sports, or in anything, you shouldn’t let the embarrassment factor affect how you perform. [We] had a plan and we’re rebuilding, and I think right now we are on a positive trajectory. So it doesn’t change my thinking at all.”
Tsai took a big swing at bringing a championship to Brooklyn by signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency in the summer of 2019 and trading for James Harden in January 2021 to form their version of the Big 3.
Injuries kept the trio from consistently playing together, and the closest the group ever came to a championship was a heartbreaking Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Bucks in 2021.
Two straight first-round exits followed, and the franchise has found itself between rebuilding and tanking since the 2023-24 season, winning just 46 games combined the past two campaigns while stockpiling talented young players in the draft.
While the Nets were tanking, the Knicks became one of the NBA’s most consistent winners behind captain Jalen Brunson, culminating in a historic playoff run that ended with a defeat of the Spurs in five games in the NBA Finals.
The Nets, however, appear to be finally turning the corner and prioritizing winning under head coach Jordi Fernández after signing ex-Knick Julius Randle in free agency to pair with Michael Porter Jr. as leaders of a young core that includes first-round picks Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Dëmin.
General manager Sean Marks said after the draft that the Nets control their own path and it’s going to be “really exciting to see what they look like” moving forward. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment’s chief financial officer Peter Stern told Nets Daily that the franchise was “happy for the Knicks” and that “more people loving basketball” because of the run could activate many dormant fans for the NBA.
