James Dolan asked his team to abstain from sex in the lead-up to the NBA Finals.

Knicks owner asked players to give up sex before playoffs to maintain ‘an edge’

James Dolan asked his team to abstain from sex in the lead-up to the NBA Finals.

By Leigh Blickley

June 16, 2026 1:55 p.m. ET

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New York Knicks owner James Dolan with the team on June 13. Credit:

Gregory Shamus/Getty

- James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks, asked the team to give up sex for 10 weeks.

- Dolan made the request ahead of the playoffs in April.

- Knicks players Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart shared a clip from Dolan's speech on their podcast's social media.

The New York Knicks are now NBA Champions, and it may or may not have to do with the team owner's radical request.

Knicks players Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart shared video footage of owner James Dolan asking that they abstain from sex for 10 weeks on the social media accounts for their podcast *The Roommates Show* on Monday. They shared clips of Dolan's passionate speech from April 3, when the team had only five games left in the regular season.

Ahead of the NBA playoffs, Dolan insisted that the players would gain "an edge" if they gave up intimacy with their romantic partners in pursuit of the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

"I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks," Dolan said at the time, per the clips.

"You don't have to give up sex for the next 10 weeks, *but*, the Spartans, they denied themselves, right, so that they could have an edge. Get the edge. Go home, talk to your wives ... don't tell them it was my idea. But let them know what this is going to be like, what your commitment is going to be like, and that they're going to have to sacrifice too," he continued.

Dolan also noted that he believed this team could "go all the way" and he "never felt closer to achieving that goal" — in the game sense, of course. When it came to the bedroom, however, "the big word is sacrifice."

"You're going to have to sacrifice if you want to achieve this," he told the team. "You have to have a discussion with yourself about what these next 10 weeks are ... because it's only 10 weeks. It's not a long time. But if you can now focus yourselves, sacrifice everything around you for these next 10 weeks to win that championship, I believe you could do it ... I believe you know you could do it. But will you do it?"

Dolan added that the months ahead had to be "all about us and the way we play" — reassuring the Knicks players that they could beat any other organization on the court. He even said he would give all of their romantic partners promise rings, of sorts, if they took home the title.

Jalen Brunson and wife Ali.

Ali Marks Brunson/Instagram

"So when you go home and you talk to your brides and your significant others, I do want you to tell them one thing that I've said: When we win the championship, we will get rings. And when we get rings, so will they," Dolan said. "I will buy a ring for each one of your significant others because their contribution is going to be very important to this team to win. If you don't have a significant other, most of you do, find someone that is sharing this journey with you for the next 10 weeks and make that person come with you, right? And we'll give that person a ring."

He concluded with a clap, "Do it, commit to it, go for it."

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The Knicks ultimately did secure the title of NBA champions on Saturday after they won the best-of-seven series 4-1 over the San Antonio Spurs. They earned the franchise its first victory in 53 years.

Brunson's wife, Ali Brunson; Hart's wife, Shannon Hart; and Karl-Anthony Towns' fiancée, Jordyn Woods, posed together for a photo with a large version of the O’Brien trophy following the Game 5 victory.

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Ali also shared photos of her and MVP Jalen with trophies over the weekend. "2026 NBA Champions," she wrote. Shannon added her own set of pictures the twin sons she shares with Jalen, writing, "An Unforgettable Night."

Woods noted that Towns made sacrifices all season long and always told her, "'When I get my ring, I'll get you yours,' and somehow it happened exactly that way," she shared on Instagram, referencing their upcoming wedding after announcing their engagement on Christmas 2025. "Two rings in one year."

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Source: “EW Sports”