With almost the entire same cast that won the championship returning, plus some promising new additions, perhaps the biggest threat to the Knicks' repeat bid is internal. So many past champions across sports have lost the drive that got them to the mountaintop in the first place, resulting in a rough adjustment the following campaign.

Unfortunately, it already appears New York might be going through a bit of this to begin its ramp-up for opening night. The team's sluggish preseason opener, which resulted in a 120-97 thrashing by a 76ers squad without several big names, was the first sign of this.

Head coach Mike Brown raised the alarm about this bubbling issue in his postgame comments, directly criticizing the team's physicality and hustle "up and down" the roster (h/t SNY Knicks).

However, it seems that it didn't wake the Knicks up enough, as Brown had to address the team again on Wednesday following a poor practice. Even more, the head coach issued a stern warning to every single reserve that they must earn their playing time, or even a spot on the roster in some cases.

"We weren't practicing well [today]," Brown stated to reporters. "And I said, '[If] we're going to practice like that, you're going to see at the end of the day, it's not going to be in your favor.' We should be pushing each other to get better."

This isn't just one piece pointing to New York being lackadaisical in the early days of the 2026-27 campaign, but several. And that's quite a concern when considering the task in front of the team.

Mike Brown is already raising alarm on Knicks' focus post-title

Now, it's clear the starters haven't upset Brown as much as the reserves. He did mention the entire squad needed more hustle on Monday in Philadelphia, but the opening five also had some of the best performances despite being only a few months removed from the Finals.

Brown also singled out his clear starting five on Wednesday as players who will get their minutes, with his focus being on pushing the bench instead. This provides some hope that it isn't an entire locker room problem, and the leadership from the likes of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns can certainly help remedy some of the issue.

However, it is also on each and every single reserve to not rest on their laurels after helping deliver a title. Some of them, like Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado, did play a huge role in the championship. Yet there are others (Miles McBride) who ended up being very small pieces of the entire playoff run.

No matter what contributions they made last season or even just in the playoffs, it's an entirely new year. No team in the league will care what the reserves did for New York in 2025-26. In fact, every franchise is gunning to knock the Knicks off.

As a result, Brown and his staff need even more from the bench than they got this past season. That's surely not what some players want to hear, as it'd be no surprise if a few prefer to celebrate the title a little while longer. But that's the reality that comes with being the defending champs.

The new restraints of the second apron era only add to the pressure here. It's more than possible that this Knicks core only has a season or two more together before desires for more money and James Dolan's resistance to overspending lead to big breakups. The players can't change ownership's spending habits, but what they can control is doing their absolute best to enjoy as much success as possible with each other before a good thing potentially comes crashing down.

This makes it disappointing to see players not seize the incredible opportunity in front of them to become a rare repeat champion. Hopefully Brown's poignant message finally gets through, or New York might have some unexpected reserve changes to make.

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