Rick Pitino Names ‘Best Team' Remaining in NBA Playoffs
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino is a legend in the game of basketball, and he has had plenty of success throughout his career. Pitino has coached the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in the NBA as well as college stops at Louisville, Kentucky and Iona before going to St. John's and turning the program around.
As of Friday afternoon, there are two teams that have already punched their ticket to the conference finals: The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Knicks.
With the conference finals starting soon, Pitino was asked about which team he thinks is the best remaining in the postseason, and he voted for the Knicks. Pitino mentioned the one negative would be not having home court for the NBA Finals against either the Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs.
"The only negative is the home court," Pitino said, via Zach Braziller of The New York Post. "Outside of that, I think the Knicks have the best team. Now OKC obviously is great, they're the defending champions. But the Knicks are deep, talented, and the way they are playing offensively - I don't mean 3-point shooting, I'm talking about the ball movement, player movement - it's so much better than what I watched in January."
Pitino spent two seasons as the Knicks' head coach at the end of the 1980s, going 90-74 before resigning.
Pitino Says Knicks Are "Championship-Driven"
The Knicks haven't won an NBA title since 1973, so it's been more than 50 years.
However, with head coach Mike Brown leading the charge, the Knicks could change that narrative this year, as Pitino pointed out.
"I think they have the best nine or 10 players. They may not have the best three, they have the best nine or 10," Pitino said. "Their bench is excellent, [coach Mike Brown] uses them great. The improvement offensively and defensively in OG [Anunoby], the improvement in Karl-Anthony Towns away from the basket with his passing, [Jalen] Brunson is the most unique player I've ever watched in my lifetime."
The Knicks finished as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and beat the Atlanta Hawks in six games, although New York trailed 2-1 before winning three straight.
New York then swept the No. 7 seed Philadelphia 76ers, who stunned everyone by knocking off the Boston Celtics in seven games.
The Knicks will face either the Detroit Pistons or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, so either team presents a massive challenge.
Related: Magic Johnson Makes Bold Knicks Claim After Dominant Win Over Hawks
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 4:42 PM.