It is not difficult to spot the similarities between the résumés of Mike Brown and Tom Thibodeau.
Both are two-time NBA Coach of the Year recipients, boast a career win percentage near .600 and were a championship-winning assistant.
But the Knicks hope Brown can differentiate himself from Thibodeau in the way that matters most: by leading them to a long-awaited NBA title.
The Knicks are set to hire Brown after an exhaustive head coaching search that lasted nearly a month. Brown lands in an enviable position, with a star-powered roster that appears to be among the very best in an injury-plagued Eastern Conference.
But Brown also arrives with sky-high expectations after Thibodeau took the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals in a quarter-century. Anything short of an NBA Finals berth would be viewed as a disappointment.
So what made Brown the right man for the job?
Here is everything you need to know about the Knicks’ new head coach.
RÉSUMÉ
Brown brings a 454-304 (.599) record as a head coach over 11 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.
He’s won four championships as an assistant coach — with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003; and the Golden State Warriors in 2017, 2018 and 2022 — but seeks his first as a head coach.
Brown made one trip to the NBA Finals as a head coach, when his still-ascending, LeBron James-led Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs in 2007.
He won Coach of the Year in 2009 with Cleveland and in 2023 with Sacramento, making him one of only 11 people to win the award more than once.
REPUTATION
Brown has long been lauded for his defensive acumen, dating back to his first stint in Cleveland, where his Cavs delivered a top-eight defense in three of his five seasons.
That should be appealing for a Knicks team that struggled defensively against the Indiana Pacers during their loss in six games in the conference finals.
Brown’s Kings were much more offensive-minded, including in 2022-23 when Sacramento led the NBA in scoring behind a fast-paced, 3-point heavy attack. It’s important to note that now-Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez was the Kings’ offensive coordinator during Brown’s first two seasons in Sacramento.
Brown’s Kings ranked ninth and 12th, respectively, in bench scoring during his two full seasons in Sacramento, which is notable considering the Knicks ranked last in bench scoring last season.
The Knicks deepened their bench this offseason with the additions of guard Jordan Clarkson and forward/center Guerschon Yabusele.
KINGS EXIT
About six months before Thibodeau’s firing rocked the NBA, the Kings’ dismissal of Brown similarly stunned the sports world.
In 2023, Brown led the Kings to a 48-34 record and helped them snap a 16-season playoff drought. The following season, the Kings finished 46-36 but were eliminated during the play-in tournament.
But the Kings got off to a 13-18 start last year, leading to Brown’s exodus. Mike Malone, then the head coach of the Denver Nuggets, called Brown’s firing “awful,” while Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle separately described it as “shocking.”
“I feel like there’s this perception that people thought that we were at odds,” then-Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said at the time, according to ESPN. “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.”
LEBRON CONNECTION
Brown has coached his share of superstars — from Tim Duncan to Kobe Bryant to Stephen Curry — but he is mostly closely aligned with James.
That’s because their bond goes back two decades to 2005-06, when Brown was a first-year head coach and James was a third-year player in Cleveland.
They spent five seasons together, and James has spoken highly of Brown.
Brown’s hiring comes amid speculation that James, who is monitoring the Lakers’ offseason as he enters his 23rd season, could be the missing piece for the Knicks.
That remains speculation, at least for now, but the dots are there to connect, considering James’ agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN that the 40-year-old forward wants to compete for a championship.
MORE TO PROVE
For all that Brown has accomplished, there is one key vacancy on his résumé: a championship as a head coach.
Brown is 50-40 in the playoffs during his head coaching career, but his last series victory in that role came 13 years ago, when his Lakers advanced to the second round of the 2012 playoffs.
As the Knicks seek their first championship since 1973, the hiring of Browns could make for a storybook season for all involved.
