Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart extension talks create uncomfortable situation for Knicks title defense

As the Knicks open training camp and begin the process of defending their NBA title, Brown repeatedly said the team cannot afford any slippage — in their energy and focus, in their commitment to sacrifice and connectedness, in their willingness to hold one another accountable.

"First and foremost, we have to be able to look in the mirror and make sure that we're doing what we should be doing for everybody in the locker room — for ourselves and everybody else in that locker room," Brown said. "If we do that, the Knicks faithful will be taken care of, as long as we take care of ourselves first."

The biggest questions hanging over the Media Day session for a Knicks team seeking to defend a championship for the first time in 53 years, though, focused primarily on whether the team will take care of several of its core players, in the form of multi-year contract extensions.