Barbara Barker: Mike Brown wound up being the perfect choice as Knicks coach
Knicks head coach Mike Brown is interviewed by Ernie Johnson after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center on Saturday in San Antonio. Credit: Getty Images/Gregory Shamus
SAN ANTONIO — Mike Brown wasn’t the Knicks’ first choice. He wasn’t their second choice. And more than likely he wasn’t their third or fourth choice to take over the team after the controversial firing of Tom Thibodeau at the end of last season.
Yet it turns out that the 56-year-old journeyman coach was the perfect choice to steer the Knicks. What other conclusion can you come to after watching him lead the Knicks on one of the most exhilarating postseason runs in NBA history?
Brown, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, has been fired four times in the course of his 25-year career. Suffice it to say, he knows a thing or two about resilience and belief in the face of adversity — two traits that were the hallmark of this Knicks team that on Saturday won the franchise’s first title in 53 years after going 16-3 in the playoffs.
The title came just 18 months after Brown was fired as coach of the Sacramento Kings.
Perhaps because of that recent firing or the fact that he just wasn’t the kind of splashy name that easily could be sold to the fan base, Brown wasn’t at the top of the Knicks' search list when they went looking for a replacement for Thibodeau. Instead, they flirted with and failed to land a number of head coaches who were under contract, including Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka and Chris Finch.
In his news conference right before the Knicks clinched the title Saturday with their fourth comeback win over the Spurs, Brown was asked if it bothered him that the Knicks dragged out the interview process for more than a month.
“No. I mean, I've been around a long time,'' he said. "This business is just as crazy as any other business. I'm pretty good at trying to control what I can control. I had zero control over who else was interviewing, who was denied permission. I had zero control over that.
“I just did the best I could in the interview process. I went about my business and waited until it was either going to progress or end . . . I just let it unfold the way it unfolded.”
Sound familiar? To those who have listened to the Knicks all season, it should. The Knicks have talked all season about controlling what they can control and not worrying about whom their next opponent will be or where they are in the standings. Instead, they’ve emphasized staying in the present, concentrating on what they can control and blocking out outside distractions the best they can.
Close to two decades ago, Brown was the hot young coach in the NBA after reaching the 2007 NBA Finals with Cleveland and LeBron James. Brown was 37 then, making him the second-youngest coach to take a team to the Finals behind Bill Russell, who was 35 when he did it with the Celtics in 1969.
It would be another 19 years before Brown got back to the championship game as a head coach. Those years would include head-coaching jobs with the Lakers, Cavaliers and Kings. HIs two most formative jobs, however, were as an assistant early in his career with San Antonio and Gregg Popovich and then the six years he spent as a lead assistant under Steve Kerr with Golden State.
The ring he won Saturday was Brown’s first as a head coach but his fifth overall. He won one as an assistant with San Antonio in 2003 and three as an assistant with Golden State.
Kerr is a huge supporter of Brown and never understood why the Kings fired him when they did. When I talked to Kerr a month ago, he said he believed that Brown was a perfect coach for a team like the Knicks.
“The beauty of Mike is he’s very comfortable in his own skin,” Kerr said. “Unbelievable to work with as a partner. He laughs at himself. Doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he’s really smart.”
Brown is comfortable enough in his own skin that he is willing to admit mistakes and try different things without feeling threatened. He realized early in the season that it was a mistake not to start Josh Hart. When the Knicks fell behind Atlanta 2-1 in their first-round series, he was willing to change his offense on the fly and have it run through center Karl-Anthony Towns. And he was willing to experiment even in the NBA Finals, putting Jose Alvarado on the floor during the Knicks' comeback from a 29-point deficit in Game 4.
In the end, he was exactly what this Knicks team needed at this time.
“Mike was invaluable to this run,” Hart said. “He knows what it is to be a champion. He knows how to build a team, how to build habits that will put you in this position. We’re so grateful to have him at the top. He kept us even at so many times. He brought the best out of us. He’s the reason why we’re here.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
