Here’s how Knicks can win NBA Finals again, according to Kendrick Perkins

2008 Boston Celtics champion and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins discussed how the defending champion New York Knicks can repeat in 2027. The Knicks begin their title defense against LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers on Opening Night. After winning the franchise’s first title in 53 years, New York will look to become the first NBA back-to-back champs in nine years.

For Perkins, the 2026-27 Knicks’ continuity is the key to their success, he said, per ESPN’s NBA Today.

“It’s going to come down to the sacrifice and the togetherness. That’s going to be the biggest thing,” Perkins said. “I remember in 2008, when we won it, the year afterwards. After you’re getting all of your flowers throughout the course of the summer and the offseason, and everyone’s telling you how important, and you were the key, you walk into training camp with that mindset. The hardest thing about repeating is having to have everyone all in again, and lose themselves in the team.

“Certain guys may come in and they may want to play for a contract. Other guys are coming in and they may have an agenda, trying to accomplish an individual goal. So the biggest thing is making sure that everyone stays in the mindset of losing themselves in the team, and staying together, and sacrificing — that’s the hardest part.”

Kendrick Perkins, while talking about the Knicks, also revealed that when the Celtics approached him about a potential contract extension, he expressed wanting more than the original offer. Then, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. For Perkins, making sure everyone’s on the same page is what’s most difficult about a defending champion winning back-to-back titles.

“That’s the hardest part,” Perkins added. “And that’s one of the reasons we haven’t seen a team repeat in the last eight or nine years.”

"The hardest thing about repeating is having to have everyone all in again."

—@KendrickPerkins on what the Knicks have to do to repeat as NBA champions pic.twitter.com/X2qomRvlvL

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 12, 2026

Perkins was traded after he and the Celtics returned to the Finals in 2010, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game series.

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