Stephon Castle and the San Antonio Spurs addressed the media Thursday after losing Game 1 of the NBA Finals to the New York Knicks.
The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs will speak to the media from the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio later today, as players and coaches share their thoughts with the public ahead of Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals, scheduled to be broadcast Friday at 8:30 ET on ABC.
Enjoy the best quotes and moments from this Media Day with the NBA.com live blog!
What we know about Thursday’s Media Day:
The Knicks won Game 1 105-95 last night, as Jalen Brunson (30 pts) scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to lift New York to a late victory.
Players and coaches from the Knicks and Spurs will speak to the press beginning at 1:30 ET.
JUNE 4, 2026 / 2:38 ET
Coach Mike Brown speaks
On Josh Hart’s performance…
“He was huge. He helped us with our pace. We want to play fast, everybody knows it, it’s hard to score as you go along in the Playoffs, so you try to get the ball up the floor as quickly as possible to attack a defense that’s not set. Josh was phenomenal in helping us do that. He guarded a lot of different guys… and then, he rebounded the basketball. He was great. He was great on the weak side defensively. He impacted the game in so many ways for us. When you look at what he shot from the field, you wouldn’t think that he was probably the most impactful guy on the game last night.”
On Jose Alvarado’s lift in 11 minutes…
“When Jalen went out of the game, he came in and he stabilized us, because we were floundering a little bit. He got us into our offense; he was really, really good defensively. He’s always into the game; he’s always present. For him to be able to come in and hold down the fort the way that he did was much needed.”
On reflecting on this point in his career before Game 1…
“No, not really. Just had my game-day routine.”
On Karl-Anthony Towns’ defensive focus and effort…
“KAT’s been really present with everything that we’re doing. When you’re present, you give yourself a chance to lock into the small details that are in front of you. Last night, he was really good in transition defensively, probably one of the best he’s been all season. The coverages, he was really good. Wemby — man, iconic player, you’re not going to stop him, you have to hope he misses… but KAT himself did a pretty decent job of trying to lead with his chest while being physical. I think it’s all due to him wanting do whatever he can to help the team while being present.”
On the Spurs’ quality of 3-point looks…
“We always want to try to get a little bit better with what we’re doing… But at the end of the day, this team will kill you if you allow their guards, as big and athletic and long, quick, as they are, to get in the paint and finish. If I had to pick my druthers, I’d take a late contested three by their guards, just because they’re so good when they hit the paint. Now, they can beat you from the 3-point line — we saw it in the Oklahoma City series — so we’re going to have to try to be better at it, but at the end of the day, I know we can’t allow them to live in the paint against us, because they’re destroy us if they do.”
On bringing out KAT’s defensive ability…
“I had to challenge everybody, not just him… KAT’s smart, he has a good feel. He has better feet than what you think, and he’s long and he’s strong. Those combinations bode well for a guy defensively. It’s just about embracing it and staying present, while understanding what the small details of your job should be.”
On encouraging Brunson hunting switches…
“We talk about all that stuff. I’ve talked about a staff a ton. It starts with those guys — our advance scouts do a great job, then it gets to our assistants, and Chris Jent and T.J. Saint are good with our analytics guys of figuring out if we want to attack a matchup in this situation or that situation, and then it’s a collective effort… I don’t think it’s different than anyone else does. Anyone else wants to quote, unquote ‘target Jalen’ or ‘target KAT in the pick-and-roll,’ so we have to understand that process going in.”
On the effect of Knicks fans traveling…
“In these games, especially against good teams on the road, you want to find places you can find energy, or a little boost of energy, at any given time. To have the type of fans that we do, that not only bring the energy in the City of New York, on the streets or at MSG, but to have them come take over a town, take over a hotel, take over an arena, and hear them chant ‘let’s go Knicks’ or Jalen shooting a free throw, ‘MVP,’ that gives you a boost knowing you have some people supporting you at a pretty high level.”
JUNE 4, 2026 / 2:18 ET
Stephon Castle speaks
On the team’s shot quality in the halfcourt…
“Playing in transition, trying to play fast, is probably the easiest way we create shots. In the halfcourt, when we got to our plays, we saw a similar look for the most part, and created the same shot over-and-over. Not getting bored with making the right read over-and-over again is something we have to do for the next game, but it comes down to making shots too.”
On the differences between guarding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson…
“They’re very similar in ways — obviously, Jalen is left-handed, Shai is right-handed. Shai, he’s more of a threat to get all the way downhill, all the way to the basket. Jalen, he likes to use angles a lot more, uses pump-fakes a little more than Shai. Most of his is angles, trying to get to his spots, and not trying to draw fouls as much, but get to his midrange and get to his spots that he likes. So, just trying to keep him from doing that.”
On the Spurs’ offense in Game 1 and whether the stage impacted them…
“It could have been that. For the most part, we didn’t make the extra pass as much as we usually do, we settled more than we usually do. Coach preaches a lot — try to find better every possession, try to find the best shot, and we got satisfied with a decent look, knowing we can make those kind of shots, a lot more than we usually do. I think it cost us, but even playing like that, not playing the way we usually do, we still had a chance to win.”
On potentially pressing in Game 1 and getting away from themselves…
“If I had to think of one thing, it’s most of our first time being in the Finals, so obviously a big moment for a lot of us. We’re overly-excited to get out there and play, so that could be a part of it. But yeah, we’ve been down in series before. I think Coach Mitch said it best — really all Playoffs, it’s taken us more than a half to get settled into a game. So, just trying to be ourselves… We feel like we’re the better team.”
On attacking Josh Hart offensively…
“I think he’s very physical. He really doesn’t want to switch too much, so he’ll blow up screens a lot. I think it’s similar to the way I play defense — just constant pressure, very physical, but does it calculated and smart, and tries to do it without fouling. He’s a good defender, regardless of who he’s guarding, but we’ve seen good defenders all Playoffs.”
On whether he was displeased by Knicks fans celebrating…
“Well, yeah. I don’t want any fans from any team to have a good night in our arena… They were loud, but I think our fans showed out as well, and I just don’t we executed on winning the game, so they had the right to celebrate.”
On Brunson finding switches in the fourth quarter…
“Obviously, yes, I want to stay on the ball and defend my matchup, but at the end of the day, I have nothing but confidence in my teammates on that side of the floor, and I don’t want to make up things on the spot… I don’t want to make it about me and him; it’s more of what our team defense needs.”
On whether his and Wemby’s youth leads to a lack of fear…
“It may be more of what our character is like. I don’t think we’ll ever change from being this way, and having this kind of confidence in each other… Using that to our advantage, in any situation. I think we have nothing but confidence in this team, this staff, this organization, so we’re just going to take it game-by-game and walk this thing down.”
JUNE 4, 2026 / 2:08 ET
Victor Wembanyama speaks
On the team’s history of handling challenges…
“It’s very reassuring. We know we’re not here by chance. We’ve been through some weird situations — it’s reassuring that these guys, the 18 guys we’ve got, are built this way and are resilient.”
On his calmness in the moment…
“I’m just speaking with my heart and reacting with my heart… An explanation would be, you get closer to qualification or elimination, so the tension level normally rises.”
On getting a text from Gregg Popovich after Game 1…
“(In general), it was that I’ve been bad and I’m better than this.”
On facing Karl-Anthony Towns…
“I think the reason we lost that game isn’t even technical, tactical. We need to approach the game with a better mental state, and we need to play our game. We just need to be normal; we don’t have to do anything incredible.”
On what ‘”normal” means for the Spurs…
“Normal means trusting each other, trusting the basketball gods, executing, and not relying on talent so much to save the day. We’ve been playing the game a certain way all season, and there’s no reason to change the day the Finals start.”
On guarding smaller players and helping off a big…
“For me, guarding smaller players, it’s quickness of feat. And it’s true that it’s a little difficult, that I’m still learning, but I’ve learned a lot (on how) to change the mindset between guarding the rim and guarding a small. I really need to flip a switch.”
On keeping his peace amongst the Finals’ chaos…
“The only thing that’s impacting my routine the most is that we’re practicing at the arena, not the facility, so the driving time is a little longer.”
JUNE 4, 2026 / 1:45 ET
Coach Mitch Johnson speaks
On the Spurs’ prior experience being down in a series…
“We’ve been consistent in that regard. I think one thing we’ve learned in our three series is that series are long, games are long, things shift quickly — whether that’s health, who’s playing well or hot… Teams at this stage typically have shown the ability to evolve and improve on the fly… That’s how you see these series go back-and-forth — these teams make great adjustments, and take advantage of those. In this moment right now, we’re coming off a loss, and it’s on us to get into that balancing act of change, tweak over here, and be better and sharper over there.”
On getting Victor Wembanyama easy shots…
“We’ve played a couple teams that are very similar, committed to guarding the paint with bodies… I think we have to make sure we don’t fight the game.”
On considering putting Dylan Harper out to close Game 1…
“There was definitely consideration… That comes when you have a lot of good players, those decisions, so Dylan did not finish the game by anything he did or did not do… I understand that there would be logic in having Dylan in that group, but I thought that group that was out there did some things during that stretch, and that’s who I rolled with.”
On the Spurs’ pace in the halfcourt…
“I thought some of the threes felt rushed… That’s just something we’ll have to continue to give feedback to the guys ib, and improve as the series goes on. Maybe more of those needed to be plays towards the rim or paint… It’s a very delicate ecosystem, where one thing leads to another, and the ripple effect can be rather grand when you pull back the layers… We have to continue to respect our style of play and our brand of basketball.”
On his confidence and adjusting for Game 2…
“I think we gave ourselves a lot aspects of the game we have to improve… The second-chance points is clearly one of them. 16 assists is not a reflection of this program, ever since I’ve been here or decades before I was, and we can be much sharper on just a lot of game plan execution stuff. You add that I think Victor will play better? Sure. A couple of guys will make more shots than they did? Agree.”
On the team’s youth and decisions under pressure…
“We talked about it, discuss it. Old teams make bad decisions too… We’ll walk it through on the court, rep it out, and trust our guys will continue to make good decisions.”
On Towns guarding Wembanyama…
“I thought our offense, in general, did not put people in the right situations and spots last night. New York had a lot to do with that… Towns, to your question, did a good job being physical… We didn’t play with the pass enough, we didn’t put enough pressure or force on the rim or the paint. It led to a lot of us making or missing shots, and playing with talent offensively instead of playing together and finding opportunities to take advantage of forcing defenses to make decisions… We have a lot of room for improvement on that going forward.”
JUNE 4, 2026 / 11:45 ET
Alvarado on the atmosphere
“The best atmosphere in the world.”
Our Game 1 Player Correspondent Caleb Wilson caught up with Jose Alvarado after New York’s big win!
Knicks take a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZZA9roosp4
— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2026
JUNE 4, 2026 / 11:30 ET
The Brunson burner was lit last night
Jalen Brunson’s clutch performance is likely to be a hot topic during this afternoon’s media session.
Brunson now has 144 clutch Playoff points since the 2023 postseason. No other player has more than 85.
Jalen Brunson delivered in Game 1!
13 points in Q4.
30 for the game.
Knicks take a 1-0 series lead in the 2026 NBA Finals 🏆pic.twitter.com/KlOo2pmA3f
— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2026
JUNE 4, 2026 / 11:15 ET
Catch up on last night’s highlights