The New York Knicks came into the season with much higher expectations than last season, and despite them having another strong season, many felt that they disappointed in several ways. They retooled the roster over the summer by adding Karl-Anthony and Mikal Bridges, yet the gap still feels large between them and the best teams of the league.
Knicks’ Josh Hart disagrees with comparisons to last year’s team
That has made fans compare this year’s squad to last year’s, when they still had Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, and Isaiah Hartenstein. While that team performed very well, the expectations were much different with them since they were playing above the back of their basketball card.
In reality, this year’s team has a much higher ceiling and a lot more star power. The Knicks had been longing for another true All-Star who would perform at that level consistently, and they got that in Towns. Adding Bridges through trade and bringing back Anunoby in free agency gave them some of the top complementary role players as well.
Josh Hart agrees with that sentiment and thinks the comparisons of the two teams are “idiotic.”
“If you continue to look back and compare yourself to years prior and teams prior, you lose the perspective of what you have,” Hart said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “And this team — we don’t care about the toughness, because we feel like we have the toughness, but we also feel like we have the offensive firepower to go out there and put up 140 points. So it doesn’t really affect us. I just think it’s idiotic to compare us to the past, because we’re the New York Knicks of 2024-25. And it’s either you get behind us or you don’t. And if you’re not, stay on that side when we have success.”
The Knicks have a much higher ceiling this year
This year’s lack of success against top teams is a large reason for the comparisons. The Knicks went 0-10 against the top 3 teams in the league and also went winless against the Lakers, Warriors, and Clippers this year.
Last year, they had a lot more success against the top teams in the league. However, what many fail to realize is that it usually takes up to a full season to develop complete on-court chemistry, and the Knicks have endured many growing pains this year.
The Knicks still have a chance to shock people and make a deep playoff run. Sometimes, all it takes is getting hot at the right time, and this year’s team has much greater potential to do that than last year’s group.