The New York Knicks are your 2025-26 NBA champions, and they pulled that off despite failing to meet Hall of Fame head coach Phil Jackson’s criterion to be a legitimate title contender. Back in 2008, Jackson shared his belief that a team had to win 40 games before losing 20 to be a real challenger, and that proved to be fairly accurate.
With how often championship-winning teams met this criterion, Jackson’s “40-20 rule” became legendary. Only three teams would meet it this season: the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Detroit Pistons.
There was a very good chance the champion would be one of these three, but it’s the Knicks instead. They are just the fifth team not to meet the criterion and still win the title since the NBA added the three-point line in the 1979–80 season. Here are the records for the five teams when they got that 40th win.
1. 1994-95 Houston Rockets: 40-25
2. 2003-04 Detroit Pistons: 40-25
3. 2005-06 Miami Heat: 40-20
4. 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks: 40-24
5. 2025-26 New York Knicks: 40-22
These Knicks had looked set to be part of the 40-20 club after a 130-125 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Dec. 29, 2025, saw them improve to 23-9. They just had to go 17-10 over their next 27 games, but struggled mightily in the weeks that followed.
The Knicks went 2-9 over their next 11 to drop to 25-18, and that seemed to end all hopes of matching the criterion. They’d follow that disastrous stretch with an eight-game win streak, but it wasn’t enough.
A 137-134 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 10, 2026, dropped the Knicks to 34-20. Not many would have picked them to go all the way at that point.
The Knicks would eventually finish the season with a 53-29 record, good enough to get the third seed in the Eastern Conference. They still weren’t being talked about as a serious title contender, with the 56-26 Boston Celtics, the second seed, emerging as the favorites to win the East in the eyes of many.
That belief would have strengthened with how the playoffs began. The Knicks found themselves down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, while the Celtics were up 3-1 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Knicks would turn things around and beat the Hawks in six games, but the 76ers stunningly upset the Celtics in seven games. One heavyweight was out of the way, and the path was suddenly clearer.
The Knicks would sweep the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to stroll into the Conference Finals. The 60-22 Pistons were supposed to meet them there, but they’d get upset by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks would sweep the Cavaliers, too, to get to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Standing between the Knicks and the Larry O’Brien Trophy was a team that was part of the 40-20 club: the Spurs. They had done so with relative ease, as well, as it only took them 16 losses to get to 40 wins.
The Spurs entered the Finals as the favorites and held a double-digit lead in every single game, but still lost in five. The Knicks just executed better down the stretch and ended their 53-year title drought in some style.
The Knicks will now look to do something no team has managed to do in quite some time, which is to defend the title. Their triumph meant we have had eight different NBA champions in eight years. The Knicks won’t be the favorites next season, but there are reasons to believe they can go back-to-back.
