Nov 4, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown reacts from the sideline against the Miami Heat during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Former All-Star Raises Concerns About New Knicks Coach

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Jul 6, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Mike Brown seemed like an all-around safe pick to be the next head coach for the New York Knicks.

The two-time Coach of the Year winner is an accomplished in-game button-pusher in leading multiple star-studded teams to offensive greatness, a skillset that looked to pair well with his new cast of players, and his reputation as a people person could help him avoid the communicative traps that helped take out Tom Thibodeau.

While some analysts immediately started singing Brown's praises upon the announcement that the Knicks had finally closed in on a hire, not every voice surrounding the game was impressed by the decision.

"They might as well have kept Thibs," Jeff Teague said on the Club 520 Podcast. “l ain't never really heard too many people like Mike Brown—I ain't saying they don't, I just never heard nobody sing high praises for Mike Brown."

“l ain't never really heard too many people like Mike Brown—I ain't saying they don't, I just never heard nobody sing high praises for Mike Brown"

— Jeff Teague pic.twitter.com/6xTNBvaI0a
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) July 5, 2025

Brown, to Teague's credit, hasn't stuck around in a head coaching role in a long time. Despite winning his second Coach of the Year trophy in his debut season with the Sacramento Kings, he was out of a job two-and-a-half years into the gig when the team slumped out of last fall's gate.

He spent most of his last few years as the lead assistant to the Golden State Warriors, where he regrouped under Steve Kerr after a few fragmented stints across the league. His longest tenure arrived with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent the mid-late 2000s alongside LeBron James, but Teague was a bit suspicious that of all the figures James has shouted out over the years, he can't recall of the legend sticking up for his first long-term NBA head coach in the years since.

"I never heard Bron be like, 'Mike Brown was unbelievable.' He talk about Ty Lue. That's the only coach I ever heard him talk about."

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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