On behalf of the Brooklyn Nets, Joseph Tsai is not happy about the New York Knicks winning the 2026 NBA championship.
The Nets owner confessed that he felt embarrassed for his organization and the team's fanbase upon witnessing their crosstown rival team win it all last season, but made it clear that his plans for Brooklyn will remain the same.
"Every year, some team is going to win a championship. So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good," Tsai said, per Nets Daily.
"It irates our fan base and it is embarrassing but in business or in competition, in sports, or in anything, you shouldn’t let the embarrassment factor affect how you perform…. [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.”
Knicks' 2026 NBA title run leaves Nets in misery
The New York Knicks pulled it off by winning their first NBA title since 1973, beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games of the 2026 NBA Finals.
Jalen Brunson was named the Finals MVP in a historic display, averaging 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists throughout the series.
In 2019, Tsai and the Nets landed both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a major free agency sweepstakes. And while James Harden eventually joined the superstar duo two years later to form a superteam, Brooklyn's lofty chances of winning an NBA title failed in a miserable fashion
The disastrous Durant-Irving era dragged the Nets to a brutal rebuild. Brooklyn embraced tanking since 2023 and has compiled a total of 43 wins in the past two NBA seasons, prioritizing young assets and players to develop.
They traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks in 2024 and generated five future first-round picks. In the end, the star wing played an instrumental role in New York's first championship in 53 years.
As the Knicks are poised to defend their NBA title next season, the Nets could be back to another losing season, despite the offseason acquisition of star forward Julius Randle from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Michael Porter Jr. off the best season of his NBA career.