April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHe completely misunderstood what I said,\u201d Breen told Kay of Smith\u2019s rant. \u201cThe whole idea that I was giving the front office a pass or lowering fans\u2019 expectations, that was not the point of it. The point of it was directly to Knick fans, who have suffered through so many rough years. And look at the level they\u2019re at now, look at the standard they\u2019re at now. Whereas if they don\u2019t make the Finals, their season is considered a disappointment. And that\u2019s true, and we\u2019ve said on the air all season long. After making it to the Conference Finals last year, and then Tom Thibodeau gets fired, Mike Brown comes in. The pressure was on Mike Brown and this team to get to the Finals because anything shy of that after making the Conference Finals last year was a disappointment. So that\u2019s not the point.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe point was to enjoy the progress of where you\u2019ve come from. The team for a number of years was one of the worst teams in the NBA, and Knicks fans suffered through that, and they\u2019ve stayed loyal. And now all of a sudden, they\u2019re rooting for a team that if they don\u2019t make the Finals, that\u2019s a disappointment. That\u2019s amazing progress, that\u2019s the point I was making.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breen said he chose Friday night to make his point, because the Knicks won their 50th game for third straight season. It was the first time the Knicks won 50 games in three consecutive seasons since 1992-95, and Breen believes the accomplishment deserved to be recognized.<\/p>\n
And Breen is right! Leon Rose and this front office deserves credit for doing what Isiah Thomas, Donnie Walsh, Glen Grunwald, Steve Mills, Phil Jackson and Scott Perry failed to do by turning the Knicks into a perennial contender. Knicks fans should enjoy the ride. But enjoying the ride and taking solace in the fact that the Knicks are perennial contenders won\u2019t lessen expectations.<\/p>\n
The fact that Breen said \u201cit blows me away\u201d is what appeared to initially imply he may have been telling fans they shouldn\u2019t consider it a disappointing season if the Knicks fail to make the Finals. Breen, however, explained to Kay that wasn\u2019t the case. And after his explanation, it seems like Breen and Smith are actually in agreement on the issue.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s great that we\u2019re talking about the Knicks contending for a championship instead of a lottery pick. That still doesn\u2019t change the fact that anything less than a Finals appearance is a disappointment. And that\u2019s the great part about being a diehard fan. We love the game and our teams to the point where it can be hard to even enjoy playoff runs because games are more stressful than fun. But the disappointment that comes with failing to achieve the ultimate goal of a championship is still better than the disappointment of not being relevant.<\/p>\n
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