The New York Knicks aren’t exactly a burning house, but Mike Brown is the coach you hire when you need an extinguisher.
Having coached LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and been on Steve Kerr’s staff in Golden State, he’s been around the torchbearers and doesn’t seem to buckle under the lights. Brown changed the culture in Cleveland his first time around and in Sacramento more recently, learning from Kerr about loosening up a bit. He even joked he carried around pen and paper when Kerr delivered his messages to the Warriors team because they were simple yet effective.
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He doesn’t have a checkered track record, being a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, but after his initial stint in Cleveland from 2005-10, he hasn’t lasted long in his next few situations. That could all just be a product of weirdness from front offices and ownership groups — coaching the Lakers for one season and five games of the next one before being shockingly fired in 2012, going back to Cleveland in 2013-14 for a 33-49 season — the year before LeBron James returned to Ohio — and then two and a half seasons in Sacramento.
All eyes will be on Mike Brown in New York. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Lachlan Cunningham via Getty Images)
It seemed like organizationally the Kings were out on Brown even after two successful seasons of 48 and 46 wins, and being fired after a 13-18 start this season was the Kings being the Kings.
But managing up is a key component when having a job like this. Not just because Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose hasn’t held a news conference in years, meaning Brown will have to be the spokesperson for everything Knicks while he’s there, but Rose and senior adviser William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley are comfortable with him dating back to Brown’s days in Cleveland.
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Yet Brown will also have to manage the relationship with owner Knicks James Dolan. Dolan was never a Tom Thibodeau fan, sources told Yahoo Sports, and was the key component behind Thibodeau’s dismissal — even after the Knicks’ run to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years.
Dolan was drawn to Brown’s success as a head coach, relative to other candidates like Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins and former Charlotte coach James Borrego.
Whether it’s ingratiating himself with Dolan or knowing what he wants, that’s the extra element of this job, beyond the challenges of New York and the franchise itself, and the belief the conference is wide open due to all the catastrophic injuries to the top teams.
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The first time the Knicks go on some three-game losing streak, the crowing will begin about Mark Jackson or Michael Malone or Jeff Van Gundy, or even the coaches the Knicks didn’t receive permission to talk to, like Jason Kidd.
It’s not an easy job, but it’s rife with opportunity, if he can navigate the tricky waters beginning with Dolan. Rose doesn’t seem like the type to have a short fuse, so there will be time to massage that relationship, especially as the Knicks operate around the fringes of the roster.
Thibodeau famously didn’t play his bench, but there were only so many good options there. Perhaps he would’ve played Jordan Clarkson if he were on the Knicks roster this past season, along with Guerschon Yabusele — two additions in recent days. Clarkson battled plantar fasciitis last season, limiting him to just 37 games, and he’s a classic gunner off the bench. Yabusele was solid in his first full season of meaningful run with the 76ers at age 29, so he’ll add frontline depth behind the oft-injured Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Maximizing the Towns-Jalen Brunson combination — which failed in the conference finals against the Indiana Pacers — should be high on Brown’s docket. When the two are on offensively, the Knicks can overwhelm opponents because Brunson is relentless and Towns is a matchup problem.
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Defensively, though, that’s a critical problem. Not only is it difficult for a team’s two best players to be defensive sieves, but the issues are at the rim and the point of attack, which means neither can hide.
For all of Thibodeau’s defensive wizardry, that was something not even he could solve, and the Knicks could only elevate to a middle-of-the-pack defensive team.
Managing the players comes with its own elements, because it’s the NBA. Brunson was a Thibs loyalist, but rocking the boat isn’t something he’s been known for. Mikal Bridges came forward with complaints about the starters playing too many minutes during the regular season — an obvious issue to anyone with working vision — but it feels like Brown will come into the year with a clean slate, and he didn’t have a reputation for overworking his players with the Kings.
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Perhaps Brown was stubborn and inflexible, which was the word out of Sacramento when he was fired last season — and that was the same tune everyone sang about Thibodeau during his entire coaching tenure.
It’s a challenge as much as it is an opportunity for Brown, with land mines and unreasonable expectations all around — but it all starts with Dolan.
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