NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks liked Mike Brown’s experience with championship teams, after he worked for four of them.
That sounds good to a franchise that’s been stuck on two titles for more than 50 years but believes its time to win another is now.
The Knicks hired Brown on Monday, turning to the two-time NBA Coach of the Year after firing Tom Thibodeau.
The Knicks offered the job to Brown last week and announced Monday that he would be taking over the team that reached the Eastern Conference finals last season for the first time in 25 years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
They decided to fire Thibodeau despite that playoff success and eventually picked Brown, who wasn’t out of work long after getting fired by the Sacramento Kings during last season.
“Mike has coached on the biggest stages in our sport and brings championship pedigree to our organization,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement. “His experience leading the bench during the NBA Finals, winning four titles as an assistant coach, and his ability to grow and develop players will all help us as we aim to bring a championship to New York for our fans.”
Brown led the Kings to a 48-34 record and the postseason in 2022-23 – their first appearance since 2006 – and was voted the Coach of the Year. He also won the award in Cleveland, where he led the Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals.
He was on San Antonio’s bench when the Spurs won the 2003 NBA title and was with the Golden State Warriors for their 2017, ’18 and ’22 championships, including going 12-0 as the acting head coach during the 2017 postseason when Steve Kerr was sidelined with a back injury.
Brown is 454-304 in 11 seasons, winning at least 45 games in seven of them.
He will take over a Knicks team with championship potential. The Knicks won at least 50 games in each of the last two seasons and knocked off 2024 champion Boston before falling to Indiana in six games in the East finals.
With the Pacers playing without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton next season after he tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and the Celtics in transition with Jayson Tatum hurt and Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday traded, the Knicks will be one of the East favorites.
Their starting lineup is set with All-NBA selections Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, and they strengthened the bench Monday by signing former Utah guard Jordan Clarkson, one of the league’s highest-scoring reserves, and Guerschon Yabusele, who played last season with Philadelphia.
Thibodeau’s reluctance to use some of his bench players may have been a reason the Knicks decided to fire him after he led them to the postseason in four of his five seasons. They reached at least the second round in the last three seasons after not winning a single playoff series since 2013.
But they haven’t won a championship since 1973. Their first title was in 1970, about two months after the 55-year-old Brown was born.
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