After a month-long search to replace Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks have offered their head coaching job to Mike Brown and are finalizing a deal to make him their next head coach, according to multiple reports.
Brown had been considered a frontrunner in recent weeks, including being the only coach known to get a second interview. The Knicks also hope to hire one of the other finalists, James Borrego, as an assistant coach under Brown, reports Marc Stein (Borrego is currently an assistant under Willie Green in New Orleans).
Brown beat out a list of finalists that included former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and Timberolves assistant Micah Nori.
In addition to his coaching experience, Brown entered the race with ties to the labyrinth that is the Knicks front office. Brown has a strong connection with William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley (going back to when Wesley was advising LeBron James while Brown was the Cavaliers’ coach). Wesley is the right-hand man of Knicks president Leon Rose.
Brown is also a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, boasting a .599 winning percentage across more than 10 seasons coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and most recently the Sacramento Kings. He’s had his successes, such as leading the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals during the LeBron era, and he was the coach who broke the Kings’ record 16-year playoff drought.
While Brown is a high-floor, potentially high-ceiling hire to take over the Knicks, this is not a sexy hire to replace the popular Thibodeau. The Knicks made the playoffs four of the five years Thibs was their coach — they had been to the playoffs four times in the previous 20 years — and he established a strong culture and identity with this team. He was tight with star Jalen Brunson, and last season he coached the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.
Still, there was a sense in the Knicks front office — and with some Knicks fans — that Thibodeau had maxed out how far he could take this team, that it needed an upgrade at coach to get the Knicks back to the NBA Finals.
That puts a lot of pressure on Brown — the expectation in New York is NBA Finals or bust. Fans, media and management will expect that level of success.
Is the journeyman Brown the guy to live up to that? The Knicks are about to find out.
