The New York Knicks just won the NBA Cup-and their response? No banner.
No ceremony. Just business as usual.
That decision has sparked a ripple effect around the league, especially when you look at how the previous two champions, the Lakers and the Bucks, handled their in-season tournament victories.
Both Los Angeles and Milwaukee chose to commemorate their NBA Cup wins by raising banners in their home arenas. But the Knicks? They're taking a different approach, one that’s raising eyebrows and possibly even influencing others to rethink their own decisions.
NBA insider Chris Haynes recently chimed in on the situation during a segment on Sirius XM NBA Radio, suggesting that the Lakers might be second-guessing their own banner. According to Haynes, the Lakers weren’t exactly thrilled about putting it up in the first place.
“I think the Lakers might remove that banner now,” Haynes said. “They didn’t want to put it up.
Now that the Knicks are holding this stance, the Lakers are gonna be like, ‘listen, we didn’t want to do that, we compromised, and we got this long, white, whatever color banner it is hanging up there that we don’t want up there. Let’s put it down.’”
That’s a pretty telling quote. It paints a picture of a team that may have felt nudged into celebrating something they weren’t entirely sure was banner-worthy.
Reports have suggested the Lakers felt some pressure from the league to put up that banner-possibly to help legitimize the NBA’s new in-season tournament format. Now, with the Knicks opting out of the pomp and circumstance, it could give L.A. the cover it needs to quietly take theirs down.
As for the Bucks, they also chose to hang a banner after their tournament win, following a similar path to the Lakers. But with New York taking a firm stance-essentially saying, “Thanks for the trophy, but we’re focused on bigger goals”-it raises a broader question: What exactly should an NBA Cup championship represent?
This moment is less about banners and more about perception. The Knicks’ decision sends a clear message about how they view the NBA Cup-an achievement, sure, but not one that rises to the level of a traditional championship. And that could reshape how other teams treat the tournament going forward.
Whether or not the Lakers actually take down their banner remains to be seen. But what’s already clear is that the Knicks’ quiet confidence is making waves across the league.