Stephen A. Smith tells the New York Knicks which team they should ‘watch out for’ this season

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The New York Knicks won their first championship in 53 years earlier in 2026 and are now gearing up to defend their crown.

The Knicks dominated the San Antonio Spurs in last season’s finals, but Stephen A. Smith has not named the Spurs as the team the New York outfit should be watching out for in the upcoming 2026/27 campaign.

Instead, as well as giving a mention to the Miami Heat, he said that the Philadelphia 76ers are ‘the team to watch out for if you’re the New York Knicks’.

Stephen A. Smith tells the New York Knicks to watch out for the 76ers

Appearing on First Take this week, Smith stated: “If LeBron James is healthy come April, and everybody else is… the Sixers can make a title run.

“The Sixers are the team to watch out for if you’re the New York Knicks. I’m not sleeping on Miami because I think the frontline of Miami is formidable.”

He continued: “But to me it’s clearly about the Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers.”

The 76ers and the Knicks have already faced off in a preseason game this week, with the former securing a 120-97 win.

Preseason, of course, generally doesn’t mean an awful lot, but it will be interesting to see how these two sides fare when they play each other for a second time in week one of the 2026/27 NBA season on October 20.

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• Dylan Harper agrees he could be Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant but ‘with a lot more championships’

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.