Mike Brown won’t throw his champions straight into the deep end.

“We’ll try to ease them in,” the Knicks coach said Thursday after the third day of training camp. “The last game is always a dress rehearsal but we’ll try to build them up leading to that game.” That means a light early load for Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, the starting five that carried the Knicks to the title. The preseason opens Monday in Philadelphia and closes Oct. 15 against the Raptors at the Garden. That game is the dress rehearsal before ring night against the 76ers on Oct. 20.

The Finals ran into June, and Brown said the group still arrived in shape.

“All the guys look like they’re in pretty good shape, especially for a short summer,” Brown said Tuesday. “We have a conditioning test that we did last year and this year that the guys have to pass to get into camp and they all passed it.”

Brunson’s summer was shorter than most. He spent much of it in a cast after surgery on his left wrist to repair a tendon.

“I feel good, but also I know that it wasn’t just my normal summer,” Brunson said.

FOLLOWED HOME

Brown is a motorcycle guy. He owns a couple of Harley-Davidsons, and in August he learned that his helmet and sunglasses are no disguise in New York.

A family in Knicks gear spotted him at a red light and waved. Brown waved back and rode on, figuring nobody had really recognized him.

“So I ride home and I’ve got my country music blasting, and I pull into my driveway in my garage, and the next thing you know, that frickin car was pulling into my driveway,” Brown said. “They followed me home.”

The father brought a box of cereal from his food company. His three kids brought stories about what the title meant, including an 11-year-old who had gotten a game ball from James Dolan.

“The one kid was like I got a ball from Mr. Dolan. That was the best thing that ever happened in my life,” Brown said. “This is like August, 2 months after the championship, but you could still feel that passion.”

Brown admitted the visit rattled him.

“Any time you get followed home, it is very, very scary, but just to see the joy and excitement, especially on kids’ faces,” he said. “The dad was more excited than the kids by the way but to see that, you realize this is just not a championship. This is special.”

HART’S PINSTRIPE PRAYERS

Hart is all in on the Yankees, who open the ALDS against the Rays on Saturday, and on their young starter, Cam Schlittler.

“Y’all know me, I’m very religious. I know Jesus is at God’s right hand, but Cam Schlittler might be at his left,” Hart said.

Hart plans to be in the Bronx for Game 3 on Oct. 7, the night before the Knicks host the Wizards.

“I think I’m going to be able to get to Game 3. We have a preseason game the next day,” he said. “So I’m excited, man. I’m excited for New York. Excited for that team.”