NEW YORK — In his introductory news conference, new Knicks coach Mike Brown said he was making a point to take his fiancée to a handful of the city’s restaurants upon getting the job.
That was necessary, he said, because there almost certainly won’t be a chance to do it once the fall season rolls around.
“There’s a lot of work to do,” said Brown, who was sporting a navy blue suit and wearing a Knicks pin in his jacket’s lapel. “But I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Brown, officially hired Monday as the 32nd coach in the team’s history, inherits some big shoes, relatively speaking. He takes over for coach Tom Thibodeau — whom Brown repeatedly called a friend — after the former Knicks head man was let go following the team’s deepest playoff run in 25 years. New York, which has made the playoffs in four of the past five years, is coming off back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since the mid-1990s.
Brown, 55, was careful to not critique his predecessor. He avoided divulging any particulars — be it the starting lineup’s struggles in the second half of the season, or defensive strategies — about how he might alter the Knicks’ playing style. The closest he came to anything definitive was saying he’d mesh his offensive and defensive philosophies to make sure they fit the club’s talented personnel. Everything else will come into greater focus once he fills out his coaching staff in the coming weeks and has more conversations with his players, he said.
He addressed the notion of expectations head-on, though.
Asked what it meant to take over a club that just moved on from its coach after falling just two wins shy of the NBA Finals, Brown suggested that it didn’t phase him. “Nobody has any bigger expectations than I do. My expectations are high,” he said. “This is the Knicks and Madison Square Garden. It’s iconic. … I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it.”
Brown knows what it is to be held to an incredibly high standard.
The two-time Coach of the Year took the Cavs to their first-ever NBA Finals back in 2007 before losing his job in 2010. Cleveland then rehired him in 2013, only to let him go at the end of that season. The Lakers axed him just five games into his second season back in 2013. And then back in December, the Sacramento Kings — whom Brown had taken to playoffs in 2023 after an NBA-record-long 16-season drought — opted to fire him as well after a 13-18 start last season.
“The league is the league — there’s always going to be ebbs and flows in terms of how the hiring and firing process goes,” he said.
Brown, who has won four NBA titles as an assistant with the Spurs and Warriors, spoke glowingly about a handful of Knicks players. Jalen Brunson’s versatility as well as the distinct styles of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, gives Brown endless options on offense, he said. Brown also referenced the depth that newcomers Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele provide.
Among the biggest parts of the job, Brown said, would be holding his players accountable — and them doing the same with him. The coach has long been known for his willingness to critique his teams, be it publicly or behind closed doors.
“At the end of the day, it’s about relationships,” Brown said. “It’s about trust. Once you grow those relationships, then you can talk openly about anything that you need to go in the direction you need to go. I’m going to be open and honest with them, and I’m sure they’re going to be open and honest with me.”
