Knicks Raise First Championship Banner in 53 Years on NBA Opening Night
New York raised their 2026 championship banner at Madison Square Garden on NBA Opening Night, then faced a new-look Philadelphia 76ers side featuring LeBron James in his 76ers debut.
The 2026-27 NBA season opened on Tuesday, October 20 with a landmark moment in New York sports: the New York Knicks raised their first championship banner since 1973 before a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd. Players including Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart received their rings in a ceremony widely described as one of the most emotionally charged events the arena has hosted in decades. The evening was the centrepiece of a three-game Opening Night tripleheader broadcast on NBC. Standing in their way as opponents was a dramatically rebuilt Philadelphia 76ers squad, which signed 41-year-old LeBron James for his record 24th NBA season and acquired Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics, adding both to an existing core of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers had been swept 4-0 by the Knicks in the previous season's Eastern Conference semi-finals and arrived intent on demonstrating the new roster's championship credentials. Individual sub-plots ran throughout: Towns versus Embiid in the paint, Brunson versus Maxey at guard, and Anunoby and Bridges tasked with containing LeBron and Brown. The tripleheader also featured the Boston Celtics against the Detroit Pistons and the Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the San Antonio Spurs.
