Adam Silver: Eight champions in eight years makes 2026-27 ‘one of the most anticipated seasons’

Adam Silver has a simple pitch for the 2026-27 season: nobody knows who is going to win it. On the eve of Opening Night, the NBA commissioner pointed to a league record that the Knicks extended in June, eight different champions in the last eight seasons, and said it is why this year has so much buzz around it.

“Eight different champions over the last eight years, it says so much about the level of competition and the parity in this league,” Silver said in a season-preview interview on Good Morning America on Monday. “It’s why I think this is one of the most anticipated seasons, because there’s so many teams that believe they have a shot this year.”

From Boston and L.A. to eight different winners

Silver framed the point with a line from his predecessor, David Stern. “He used to say the job of being commissioner was going back and forth from Boston to L.A. every year,” Silver said. That was close to true in the 1980s, when the Celtics and Lakers won eight of the decade’s 10 titles. The last eight seasons look nothing like that.

Season	Champion	Beat in the Finals
2018-19	Toronto Raptors	Golden State Warriors
2019-20	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
2020-21	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
2021-22	Golden State Warriors	Boston Celtics
2022-23	Denver Nuggets	Miami Heat
2023-24	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
2024-25	Oklahoma City Thunder	Indiana Pacers
2025-26	New York Knicks	San Antonio Spurs

No team has repeated since the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. The Knicks became the eighth different champion in eight years when they beat the Spurs in five games in June, and the run is the longest of its kind in league history. That puts New York in the same spot as the seven teams before it: trying to be the club that finally breaks the streak. If you want the full road to that title, our step-by-step interactive on the Knicks’ 2026 championship walks through it.

Silver tied the parity to the depth of talent around the league. “When you add that global pool of talent, for people who just love basketball, you can watch any game, any night, and there’s always something to see,” he said.

“A real sort of global flavor”

Asked about the stars of tonight’s late game, a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals between the Thunder and Spurs, Silver singled out Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think he’s learning every year. He keeps getting better,” he said of Wembanyama, before adding that Gilgeous-Alexander is “another still pretty young player out there who’s learning how to win at the highest level.”

They’re very cerebral. Listening to Wemby, listening to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander get interviewed, they’re very worldly, the things they talk about. They’re, of course, both international players, and there’s a real sort of global flavor to this league now.

That global angle is part of the league’s business case as much as its basketball. The NBA is pushing ahead with NBA Europe for 2027-28, and the league usually releases its count of international players on Opening Night rosters on the first day of the season.

Banner night and LeBron’s 24th season

Silver also spoke about the mood in New York before the Knicks raise their first banner in 53 years. “So few things bring people together these days, and sports is one of those things,” he said. “It’s been amazing just since June that there continues to be this glow of good feeling around that team.” His favorite reaction, he said, comes from young fans: “All the 20-year-olds who say, ‘We waited 53 years.'” Our ring night guide has the ceremony time and the free places to watch.

The Knicks’ opponent is a Sixers team that now has LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. Silver noted that James has been in the league for 24 of the 25 seasons the NBA has been on ESPN, and turns 42 on Dec. 30. “The fact that he’ll be 42 later this year, that he’s playing as a top All-Star in the league at that age, is quite incredible. It’s a testament to his work ethic and just his body of work over the years,” Silver said. “It’s great for the 76ers. It’s great for the rivalry with the Knicks.”

Opening Night at a glance

Game	Tip (ET)	Tip (Cairo)
Celtics at Pistons	3:00 p.m. Tue	10:00 p.m. Tue
76ers at Knicks (banner night)	7:00 p.m. Tue	2:00 a.m. Wed
Thunder at Spurs	9:30 p.m. Tue	4:30 a.m. Wed

All three games are on NBC and Peacock. The full first-week slate, including Wednesday’s doubleheader of Heat-Timberwolves and Warriors-Lakers, is in our Opening Night tip times guide. More league-wide stories are in our Around the league section.