The New York Knicks ended a 53-year wait for an NBA championship in June, but their historic triumph also created an uncomfortable reality across the city for Joe Tsai and the Brooklyn Nets.
While the Knicks celebrated with the Larry O’Brien Trophy and more than two million fans turned out for their championship parade through Manhattan, the Nets were left watching from the other side of New York after another difficult season. Brooklyn finished 20-62, missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year and continued a rebuilding process that remains focused on the future.
For Joe Tsai, the contrast between the two franchises was impossible to ignore.
The Nets owner admitted that seeing their city rivals win the championship had irritated Brooklyn’s fanbase and described the situation as “embarrassing.” However, Tsai insisted that the Knicks’ success would not force the Nets to abandon their rebuilding plan.
Joe Tsai opens up on the Knicks’ championship success
Speaking in a recent interview with Nets Daily, Joe Tsai did not attempt to hide his feelings about watching the Knicks lift the NBA championship.
The Nets owner acknowledged that every season produces a champion, but said the situation felt particularly difficult because the winning team came from the same city.
“Every year, some team is going to win a championship,” Tsai said. “So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good. It irritates our fan base, and it is embarrassing.”
For a franchise currently rebuilding after three consecutive seasons outside the playoffs, the Knicks’ success has made the gap between New York’s two NBA teams more visible.
The Knicks were celebrating a championship and ending a drought that had lasted more than five decades. Meanwhile, the Nets were coming off a 20-win season, the third-worst record in the league.
Yet Joe Tsai made it clear that embarrassment alone cannot become the reason for changing a long-term sporting strategy.
“But in business or in competition, in sports, or in anything, you shouldn’t let the embarrassment factor affect how you perform,” Tsai added.
The Nets owner believes Brooklyn already has a plan in place and remains convinced that the franchise is moving in the right direction.
“[We] had a plan and we’re rebuilding, and I think right now we are on a positive trajectory. So it doesn’t change my thinking at all.”
Nets owner refuses to abandon the rebuilding plan
The comments from the Nets owner provide a clear picture of how Brooklyn views its current position.
The franchise is not attempting to compete with the Knicks immediately by making desperate moves or chasing a quick fix. Instead, the organization has committed to accumulating draft assets, developing young players and creating future financial flexibility.
Brooklyn last reached the playoffs in the 2022-23 season, when the team finished with a 45-37 record before being swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.
Since then, the franchise has taken a different direction.
Losses have mounted, but those difficult seasons have coincided with a deliberate effort to reshape the roster. The pivotal moment arrived during the summer of 2024, when the Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks.
The deal brought Brooklyn a significant package of future draft assets, including first-round selections in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031, along with a 2028 pick-swap right.
That trade effectively ended Brooklyn’s remaining short-term ambitions and committed the organization fully to a rebuild.
The decision is now central to the long-term vision Joe Tsai described as a positive trajectory.
Joe Tsai watches Nets endure another difficult season
The 2025-26 season demonstrated just how far the Nets still have to travel.
Brooklyn finished 20-62, giving the team the third-worst record in the NBA. The result placed the franchise in the draft lottery with a 14 percent chance of securing the first overall pick and a 52 percent chance of landing inside the top four.
However, the lottery did not go Brooklyn’s way.
The Nets slipped to sixth and selected Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. The young guard later averaged 15 points in just under 22 minutes per game during the Summer League, although the organization has managed him carefully because of back issues.
His development is part of a broader strategy centred on youth.
The roster entering the 2026-27 campaign remains one of the youngest in the NBA, with several players still developing rather than already established as elite performers at the highest level.
That creates uncertainty, but it also reflects the long-term approach supported by Joe Tsai and the Nets’ front office.
The Nets are accepting the growing pains of rebuilding in the hope that their accumulated assets can eventually be transformed into a team capable of competing for major honours.
Nets owner points to draft assets and flexibility
General manager Sean Marks has identified draft capital and salary-cap flexibility as major foundations for the next stage of Brooklyn’s rebuild.
The Nets do not control their own first-round pick next season, but the franchise could have seven first-round selections across the following three drafts.
That collection of future picks gives Brooklyn multiple options. The organization can use those selections to add young talent, package assets in potential trades or simply maintain flexibility while evaluating how its current players develop.
Significant cap space could also become available in the summer of 2028.
For Joe Tsai and the Nets owner’s long-term vision, that flexibility is crucial. The franchise does not appear willing to let the immediate disappointment of watching the Knicks win a championship derail a strategy built around patience.
Head coach Jordy Fernandez has also been tasked with an important part of the project, developing a young roster whose players are still trying to establish themselves at NBA level.
Brooklyn’s success cannot yet be measured against the Knicks’ championship achievement. The two franchises are simply at very different stages of their respective journeys.
Knicks rivalry will provide an immediate measuring stick
The rivalry between the Knicks and Nets will return four times during the 2026-27 season.
Their first meeting is scheduled for 2 November at Madison Square Garden, offering Brooklyn an early opportunity to measure itself against the reigning champions.
For Joe Tsai, those games carry significance beyond the usual battle for New York basketball supremacy.
They will offer a reminder of the distance between the Nets and a team that has reached the sport’s summit. At the same time, they can serve as a benchmark for a rebuilding team hoping to demonstrate gradual progress.
The Knicks’ championship parade, attended by more than two million fans, also highlighted the challenge facing Brooklyn in a city where the Knicks remain the dominant basketball institution.
Tsai has nevertheless maintained his focus on building the Nets’ own fanbase rather than allowing the rivalry to dictate every decision.
Joe Tsai believes the Nets are moving in the right direction
The Knicks winning an NBA championship after 53 years undoubtedly made a painful situation even more difficult for Brooklyn.
Joe Tsai has openly admitted that the success of a rival in the same city was embarrassing and frustrating for the Nets’ fanbase. But his response also revealed an important message about how the organization intends to move forward.
The Nets owner does not believe emotion should replace strategy.
Brooklyn has endured three straight seasons without playoff basketball and has just completed a 20-62 campaign. Yet the franchise possesses future draft capital, potential financial flexibility and a young group that management hopes can develop into the foundation of a stronger team.
The Knicks are currently celebrating what Brooklyn is still trying to build towards.
For now, Joe Tsai is willing to accept the uncomfortable comparison. His belief is that the rebuild has a plan, the organization is on a positive trajectory and the embarrassment of watching the Knicks become champions should not be allowed to change that direction.
