The Knicks’ head coaching search is heating up — and Mike Brown is rising to the top.
Brown, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, including his most recent honor with the Sacramento Kings in 2023, will meet with the Knicks for a second interview. After impressing New York’s brain trust during the first round of interviews — which included former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins and current Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori — Brown has emerged as a front-runner to replace Tom Thibodeau.
Brown, 54, owns a career 492-305 record across 11 seasons as a head coach, ranking 10th in all-time wins among coaches active last season. He is best known for leading LeBron James to his first NBA Finals appearance with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 and for ending Sacramento’s 16-year playoff drought. The Kings went 94-70 in Brown’s two full seasons before firing him 31 games into the 2024-25 campaign following a 13-18 start.
Brown isn’t the splashy name many envisioned after the Knicks parted ways with Thibodeau — the architect of back-to-back 50-win seasons and New York’s first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. Brown has made two conference finals appearances, matching Thibodeau’s total, but hasn’t advanced past the second round since 2009.
Still, his résumé is deep.
After a six-year run as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors — where he won three championships, including back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 — Brown took the Sacramento job and transformed the Kings into one of the NBA’s most exciting teams. His offensive creativity unlocked Domantas Sabonis, who posted career-highs in rebounds and assists under Brown, and accelerated the development of young talent like Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis.
Those are boxes the Knicks need checked: a coach who develops youth, installs offensive versatility, and can maximize an underutilized All-Star big man in Karl-Anthony Towns. Brown’s Kings tenure ended abruptly despite a three-year, $25.5 million extension and Sacramento’s subsequent push for DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine to bolster their roster. His firing sparked outcry from coaching peers around the league.
“At first I was really shocked and surprised, and then I caught myself and said why am I shocked and surprised? For two reason. One: When they win, it’s gonna go on Sabonis and [De’Aaron] Fox, and when they lose, it’s gonna be on Mike Brown. That’s the way it works,” said former Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone hours after Brown’s firing. “And two, who he works for [Kings owner Vivek Ranadive]. So I’m not surprised Mike Brown got fired ‘cause I got fired by the same person.
“And what really pissed me off about it was, they lost last night, fifth game in a row, tough loss. They had practice this morning. He does his postgame media. And he’s in his car going to the airport going to LA and they call him on the phone. No class, no balls. That’s what I’ll say about that.”
Sacramento won seven of its next eight games post-firing, traded for LaVine, and finished 40-42 — only to lose to the Kyrie Irving-less Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In Tournament.
Despite speculation of a rift with star guard Fox, Fox himself shut down rumors in an interview with ESPN.
“I feel like there’s this perception that people thought that we were at odds,” he said. “You can ask anybody in this organization: me and Mike have never even had an argument. We could disagree with something. We talked about it and it was gone.
“I was fine with [him pushing me to be better]. He told me things, then he said it to the media. And obviously he still played me 40 minutes because he wanted me to do those things. He was being tough on that.”
Known as a defensive-minded, no-nonsense leader, Brown has coached some of the greatest talents of the modern era, including James, Kobe Bryant (during his Lakers stint from 2011-12), and as a Warriors assistant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green.
Now, he could be next in line to guide a Knicks team with championship aspirations — and one decision away from finding the voice to get them there.
