The New York Knicks reached the top of the NBA world in dramatic fashion last season, winning the first championship in 53 years for one of the most historic franchises in the league while taking down a titan in the San Antonio Spurs and making even more history with a 13-game playoff winning streak, the longest such streak in NBA playoff history.

After accomplishing such a feat, the past summer has been one of celebrations, festivities and media circuits that have given the Knicks plenty of time to enjoy their accomplishment as a team, but now the summer is nearly over and the next season is almost here, which means that the work is about to begin anew. 

While what the Knicks have already accomplished is more than enough to define the legacies of everyone on the roster, but the Knicks aren't going to be satisfied with just one legacy-defining moment and they have a real opportunity ahead of them to start a new dynasty in the NBA. 

But there's still a challenge ahead of the Knicks that they haven't faced yet, a challenge that is ironically created by the fact that they won a championship last season.

The Knicks are used to defying expectations. Even if they weren't necessarily underdogs as the third-seed in the Eastern Conference, they still had to contend with more doubt than praise it was that mentality that fueled them to become so dominant and they used the chip that was placed on their shoulders to defy those doubts and prove the league wrong.

But now the Knicks are on the other side of those expectations. They're the defending champions and several preseason projections have them listed as the favorites in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire NBA. 

Trying to prevent their praise and lofty expectations from inducing complacency and a lackadaisical attitude is a new challenge and one that Jalen Brunson reflected on in a recent interview. 

 “We have all these people telling us how great we are... we won in New York and everyone in New York is up on their high horse, everyone saying the best things about us even though middle of the year they were probably saying the worst as well," Brunson said (via NBA Courtside). "We want to come in with the same mindset if not even tougher mindset we had last year.”

It can be hard for a team that's being lauded with so much praise do run the risk of losing the edge that made them so successful in the past, but Brunson expresses a certain level of awareness that could ideally guard the Knicks against the complacency that they're at risk of developing. 

They also play in a tumultuous media environment. As much as it seems like the Knicks could do no wrong in the eyes of New York right now, things could turn just as quickly if the Knicks experience some severe struggles later in this season. 

Brunson's awareness is a good thing for him and the rest of the team to keep in mind and while the past few months have been enjoyable for the Knicks, they can't lose sight that a new season carries with it both new struggle, new goals and new expectations.