Ben Stiller kept it simple when NBC revealed the broadcast crew for the Knicks’ season opener: “Cool,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
That matchup lands in just under two weeks, when the New York Knicks open against the Philadelphia 76ers. The game will also feature the championship banner raise ceremony, with Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford, and Mike Tirico on the call.
Stiller, a lifelong Knicks fan, is the kind of familiar face who often shows up at Madison Square Garden when he’s not tied up filming a project. He’s expected to be in the mix for the Oct. 20 opener, though nothing is certain yet.
The opener comes after the two teams already met in their first preseason game of the year. Philadelphia took that one behind Jaylen Brown’s 22 points in his first game with the team.
That result may or may not mean much once the games count. New York held its starters to no more than 15 minutes in the preseason matchup, while LeBron James did not play for the Sixers at all.
The Knicks head into the 2026-27 season trying to defend their title and pull off back-to-back championships. Jalen Brunson led them to the franchise’s first championship in 53 years, capped by a five-game Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, has remade its roster after getting swept by the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. James and Brown are the headliners among the newcomers, and the group also includes Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, and Tyrese Maxey.
In Other News...
Bruce Brown Is Suddenly In A Knicks Fight Fans Didn't Expect
Bruce Browns path to New York has been shaped as much by the leagues new spending rules as by his own rsum. The 30-year-old forward, long valued as a high-energy bench piece, landed with the Knicks on a training camp deal after drawing limited interest elsewhere, a reminder of how the NBAs second apron has made life harder for veteran free agents hunting for the kind of stable, longer-term opportunity Brown once would have had.
Now Brown is simply trying to stick, which is a different challenge entirely. Training camp invitations always carry an edge of uncertainty, but in this case the Knicks depth chart leaves little room for comfort, and the competition for a roster spot has become the real story as New York sorts out its back end before opening night. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Opener Got Pulled Into A LeBron Embiid Tension Story
The Knicks preseason opener wound up carrying a little extra chatter before the ball was even tipped, thanks to a Mike Breen mention of a story involving LeBron James and Joel Embiid. The buzz centered on an alleged incident in which James supposedly reprimanded Embiid for being late to a 76ers practice, a bit of sideline gossip that quickly spread beyond the game itself even though neither star took part in the matchup against New York.
LeBron publicly pushed back on the tale on Instagram, while Embiid has stayed quiet. Inside the 76ers, the picture has sounded much calmer, with reports indicating the groups practices and workouts have been viewed in positive terms. For the Knicks, it meant a preseason game briefly got pulled into a bigger league conversation, the sort of off-court thread that can linger even when the players at the center of it are not on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Are Running Into A Harsh Pacome Dadiet Reality
Pacome Dadiets first year in New York has not exactly given the Knicks much leverage. The team is said to be exploring ways to move the young wing in order to clear a roster spot and create a little more salary-cap flexibility, but the market has not responded the way they had hoped. After a lukewarm Summer League, World Cup qualifiers and preseason showing, Dadiet has not built the kind of buzz that usually helps a player become a useful trade chip.
For the Knicks, that leaves a familiar front office problem: trying to turn a roster logjam into a clean solution without paying too high a price. There has been no concrete deal reported, and the lack of outside interest suggests New York may have to get creative to get anything done. For now, Dadiet remains on the roster and the team is still looking for a path forward that fits both the cap sheet and the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]