New York will watch the Knicks play basketball inside the Garden for the first time since they waved them goodbye after the Game 4 win over the Spurs and before they hoisted the Larry O’B back in Texas.

The MSG faithful will have to wait a couple of weeks for the unveiling of the banner(s?), but it’s not that having the Knickerbockers playing closer to them won’t be welcomed.

Here’s the latest from a heated Brown and a few other people before tip-off.

Mike Brown

On challenging the Knicks’ bench players to compete harder in practice:

“I brought it up today, when we weren’t competing. I’m like, you know what? And I specifically went down the line talking about Jalen, Mikal, OG, KAT and Josh. I said those five: they are going to play. If they do something wrong, I’m going to get on them and we’re going to figure it out, but they still are going to play. I said, everybody else in this gym: you [are] fighting.

“You’re fighting either to make the team or you’re fighting for minutes. I said, look around. This is not just because we won last year. This has nothing to do with last year’s team. Those five guys are the same. But this is a new year, a new team. We got to look forward. And so, every day, it’s a competition. We should be pushing each other to get better while competing for minutes and/or to make the team. So, you’re 100% accurate. It’s going to be hard.”

On how the Warriors avoided complacency after winning the first of two consecutive titles:

“There was no slippage. And when I say no slippage, there was no slippage in our process from Year One to Year Two. Guys embraced the details. They embraced the little things. They knew we couldn’t just show up and turn the light switch on and think just because we won last year, we’re going to win this year.

“That group was very, very good, and it started with the core players. The core players didn’t allow it to happen, which made it easy for our staff to say what we needed to say when we did start having slippage, because everybody is human, so it’s going to happen.

“We have to embrace all the work and the details that go into it along with the effort every single day.”

On how winning a championship could affect Mikal Bridges’ confidence and the scrutiny he faces:

“It definitely can be freeing. It can definitely help with the validation that every human being looks for in life or in whatever they do. But at the end of the day, everybody has a short-term memory. It’s ‘what can you do for me lately?’ Nobody can ever take that away from any of us because we were all a part of it. But if you want to stay on top, it’s gonna be hard. It’s gonna be even harder. …There’s gonna be more scrutiny. And that scrutiny might even be at a higher level.”

Mikal Bridges

On Mike Brown holding the Knicks accountable after a lackluster practice:

“I think that’s what makes Coach a great coach, just holding us accountable. It can be human nature to relax a little bit. As a player, as a coach, as a fan, you can relax after having a lot of success. It’s difficult to do something great and continue to try and get better.

“And that’s our goal. We did something great last year; it was last year, and I think the biggest thing coming into this year is that we know what it takes.

“It’s just great that coach did that, holding us accountable because we want to be the best team we can be. And the best team we can be, we can’t be the same exact team that we were last year. It’s a different team; we gotta be even better. Those lapses where we might get a little human nature in us, where we play a game and have a little day in between and we’re kind of, maybe sometimes going through the motions, it was great for coach to do that to us because the thing about us, we’re all competitors and we all want to win. So as soon as Coach says something like that, none of us are going to back down and be like ‘whatever.’ We’re going to pick it up and keep fighting and get better.”

On dealing with criticism and scrutiny following his trade to the Knicks:

“I got a phone. Even if I don’t want to see it or anything, it’s always there. That’s just life. People talk about anything, and that’s all right; you just gotta go about your business. People can think however they want to think; I just know that I’m gonna work hard and try to be the best teammate that I can be and best player that I can be and continue to try and help win as much as I can.”

On whether he feels fully appreciated by Knicks fans after winning a championship:

“I don’t know. I’m not sure about that. Can just say that I’m appreciative of fans. If I see them when I’m walking my dog or something like that, just a lot of nice things to say. That’s foremost, kind of more like a human-to-human interaction, just very nice and grateful to be in this position. I don’t need to feel like there’s validation and there’s like, ‘OK, now he can…’ No, I hold myself accountable at all times.”

On how Knicks fans’ expectations have pushed him to improve:

“That’s the thing that I do love about this organization and the fans, even though some might be a little more crazy than others, they want the best out of you. I never take that for granted. I talk to myself a lot when I go through a lot of things and I got people that help me as well, but that’s one thing that I do take from it, is that they get the best out of me. When I’m struggling and I know I gotta be better, I can’t hide from it sometimes — even though I know internally, the people let me know as well. As much as you get frustrated about it, the only thing it does is drive me and I continue to try and get better. I’m always appreciative of it.”

On the Knicks still having something to prove after winning the championship:

“I think we all still have something to prove.”

Jordan Clarkson

On avoiding complacency and raising the Knicks’ intensity during training camp:

“I think throughout the year, we’re gonna have our ups and downs. The first week, second week of training camp, we’ll have days like that, but we just don’t want to get complacent at all. If we continue to try to win every single day, we try to compete every single day — for us [during] training camp, we just wanna pick up the level and be ready for the home opener in two weeks and get it rolling for the regular season.

“We just wanted to pick the energy up, keep continuing to play at a high level and pick the physicality up. I think that was a big thing that he said from last game.”

Mike Breen

On his disappointment with how his LeBron James and Joel Embiid story was interpreted:

“I’m so disappointed how the story was interpreted. The whole intent was praising LeBron for already having an impact on the team’s professionalism and accountability, even something so benign as a player getting on the court for practice a minute or two late.”

On apologizing for the report and accepting James’ denial:

“I thought it would be an interesting anecdote to show LeBron’s leadership already on display in Philly. For me, the fact that the teammate was Joel was meaningless. In hindsight, I should have realized the fact that it was Joel is what made it a story. I’ve always been a huge fan of Joel and feel awful that it put the focus on him the way that it did.

“I don’t know why the person who told me the story would make it up, but if LeBron says it never happened then I believe him and apologize for putting it out there.”

Skip Bayless

On choosing between Jalen Brunson and Allen Iverson:

“That is a great question that I’m struggling with because I was a big A.I. fan. Jalen Brunson against the odds… my eyes were ready to not embrace him throughout the playoff run, but he just kept saying, ‘Watch this; watch this.’

“I might be being a prisoner of this moment because A.I. is Godly to me, God-like, but what Jalen Brunson did to the favoured Spurs… I can’t argue with it.”