Heading into his third-year in the NBA, New York Knicks guard Tyler Kolek is still working on nailing down an ironclad role for himself.

With the Knicks now being the defending champions — sporting a fresh new target on their backs — the pressure on the entire roster is only going to increase. The lights are going to get brighter; the expectations bigger. And for a player who is not yet established, that can be far from ideal.

However, what Kolek has in his favor is that he has already had the opportunity to show head coach Mike Brown what he is made of. 

And though his minutes took a hit in the playoffs — to a point where he did not make a Finals appearance — Kolek will enter training camp this fall with everything to gain. His mindset is aligned with that.

"I just gotta play my game every day," Kolek said while hosting a youth basketball clinic with FlexWork Sports at The House of Sports in Ardsley on Saturday. "Be consistent; whatever the coaches need, just follow their direction and let it be what it is." 

Kolek — a second-round pick out of Marquette in 2024 — averaged just 7.2 minutes per game in his rookie year. He saw his usage increase quite a bit as a sophomore, racking up 11.7 minutes per tilt while shooting a respectable 38.6 percent from three-point range.

The 25-year-old became a mid-season spark plug for the Knicks, who at that point were still in the process of figuring things out. Nobody really dared to think they would go on to win it all then. But they had to start somewhere, and Kolek had a part to play in the beginnings of one of the greatest fairytales in all of sports.

Kolek impressed Brown and had a stretch from Nov. 22 of last year to Feb. 11 when he regularly played double-digit minutes. Over the season, he averaged 4.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

As the Knicks' campaign neared crunch time, Kolek was pinned to the bench after New York acquired Jose Alvarado via trade from the New Orleans Pelicans. But he still saw the floor in every round of the postseason until the Finals.

On the grandest stage, the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 to clinch their third championship — the first since 1973, ending a 53-year drought. 

It cannot be overstated how important it is for a player with something to prove not to shy away from doing just that.

Kolek doesn't lack self-confidence. Having already gotten a good taste of what the league is all about, it is a great omen for the Knicks that all that did was make him hungry for more.

"There's definitely a lot left [for me to show]," Kolek said. "Every year I try to get better. That's how it's been since college, year over year, from my first year in the NBA to last year, the improvement. Now, I'm just looking forward to improving on that."

At the end of the day, it takes a village to get to the top, and it takes even more than that to stay there. Brown and his staff will certainly have no complaints about last year's fringe players, all richer in a championship ring, having an increased desire to make an impact.