Sports

James Dolan's Motivational Speech to Knicks Ahead of Title Run Is His Latest Crystal-Ball Moment

By Blake Silverman Sports Illustrated

James Dolan's Knicks won the NBA title for the first time since he took over the organization, but his belief never wavered. In his rare public appearances, he hasn't shied away from exclaiming his belief that this group was the one that would finally bring a title back to New York.

On Monday, a video surfaced of Dolan giving his team a motivational speech well before it began a historic run through the playoffs that culminated in an NBA title. He led off that pep talk by making sure the Knicks knew he believed they could go all the way. And that's only the latest instance of Dolan calling his shot with this group.

"I decided to come talk to you because I didn't want to miss the opportunity," Dolan said on April 3 in a video released by the Roommates Show, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart's podcast. "I believe that this team can go all the way. And in my 30 years of doing this, I've never felt close to achieving that goal than right now.

"I don't know if you understand what it would mean for you to win a championship this year. It would be life changing for all of you. It will stick with you for the rest of your lives and if you don't win, you'll be thinking about it for the rest of your lives. Why I'm here is because we have 10 weeks, 10 weeks in your life to achieve something that will stay with you the rest of your life, and the rest of my life."

You can watch Dolan's full speech to the Knicks before their playoff run below:

Those words aged well as the Knicks completed one of the most dominant postseason runs in NBA history with a 16–3 record and a 13-game winning streak that went from Game 4 of the first-round series against the Hawks until Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Spurs. Dolan spoke about sacrifice, something everyone across the organization would have to endure to win the title. From the players to coaches, support staff and the player's wives and girlfriends, who he said he'd buy a ring for when they won the championship.

"When we win the championship, we will get rings. And when we get rings, so will they," he said. "I will buy a ring for each one of your significant others because their contribution is going to be very important to this team winning."

 

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What followed was the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history as the Knicks erased a 29-point deficit to beat Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs in the final seconds off Anunoby's heroics, which instantly went down as one of the best ever Finals moments. Then, the Knicks closed out the title in Game 5 as they erased another late deficit that brought the Larry O'Brien trophy to New York.

It was a bold time to make a prediction as the Spurs were down just 2–1 with an opportunity to even the series that night. San Antonio collapsed in historic fashion and made Dolan's Game 4 prediction come true. He hinted that his previous predictions on Carton and McGonigle's show came to fruition, which is why he gave it another shot.

Back in January, Dolan went on WFAN and spent some time explaining the organization's controversial decision to part with head coach Tom Thibodeau after a run to the Eastern Conference finals last season in favor of Mike Brown. In doing so, he said that the expectation for this group was to get to the Finals, something Thibodeau's teams fell short of after three-straight seasons where the Knicks won a playoff series.

"I would say we want to get to the Finals and we should win the Finals," Dolan said in January. "This is sports. Anything can happen in sports. Getting to the Finals, we absolutely got to do. Winning the Finals, we should win."

He was speaking more in theory at that time, but the Knicks brought in Brown because they thought he was the man who could get the team over the hump. Hindsight is 20/20, but that move looks pretty smart as the Knicks prepare for their championship parade in Manhattan.

Of course, Dolan's predictions could have went another way. But the belief he had in his team remained steadfast through all the bumps of an NBA season and that was yet another important factor as this Knicks team etched its name in the history books.

More NBA Finals From Sports Illustrated

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as James Dolan's Motivational Speech to Knicks Ahead of Title Run Is His Latest Crystal-Ball Moment.

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 2:45 AM.

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