Knicks’ NBA Cup banner call was ‘organizational decision’ — even if it contradicted what Mike Brown initially said

INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Brown said it was “an organizational decision” to not raise an NBA Cup banner and didn’t talk to players about how it contradicted what he told them previously.

“I didn’t talk to them specifically about it. But what I did tell them was exactly what I just said, ‘Hey, it was a heckuva run, we can cherish this, we can talk about this for the rest of our lives, we can talk about it with our grandkids at the end of the day. But there’s more to this season,’ ” Brown said before Thursday’s 114-113 win over the Pacers. “This is a taste of what we can do. We can’t afford to get comfortable because of winning it at this point in the season. And so we got to go back to work. And it’s going to be tough because everybody is human and it’s natural to accomplish something like that and then relax to a certain degree thinking you’ve arrived and now it’s time to take a deep breath. No, no, no, no, no. Now there’s an extra target on our back. And we have to live up to what we believe the expectations are, starting yesterday.”

The Knicks, according to a league source, plan to celebrate the Cup championship before Friday’s home game vs. the 76ers in “an appropriate way.”

But the organization, according to the source, felt a banner might take the focus off the bigger picture of winning in June. 

It was a reversal from Brown’s pregame speech for Tuesday’s NBA Cup final, when he informed players that a banner would be their transcendent award for winning. 

“Tonight’s an opportunity to add to that legacy,” Brown said in the locker room, as filmed and broadcast by Amazon Prime. “Because again, all your peers, they’re in the league. All your peers — they got money, they got a little bit of fame.