Report reveals why Knicks chose to hire Mike Brown

The New York Knicks are hiring Mike Brown as their new head coach, and now we have a better understanding of what led them to the veteran coach.

NBA reporter Shams Charania was talking on ESPN on Wednesday and provided some insight into the matter. Charania said that the Knicks liked Browns ability to collaborate with everyone in the organization.

“The couple factors that they found with Mike Brown — the collaboration and adaptability they felt was head and shoulders above other candidates that they had. His ability to collaborate with every level of the organization, from ownership to the front office,” Charania said.

Brown apparently met with owner James Dolan at the top while interviewing for the job, and also met with other members of the Knicks’ leadership team. He impressed them enough to get the position.

The 55-year-old Brown has been a head coach four different times. He coached the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-2010 and again from 2013-2014. He also coached the Lakers from 2011-2012 and he just coached the Sacramento Kings from 2022-2025. Brown has won NBA Coach of the Year twice — in 2009 and 2023. The guy obviously knows how to impress, which is how he keeps getting head coach jobs. Being able to keep the jobs long term is another question.

The Knicks are coming off a 51-31 season that saw them reach the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau not long after their season ended.