Sep 30, 2024; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown during media day at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Knicks Don't Deserve Mike Brown?

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Jul 5, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The New York Knicks have been a sloppy organization for the vast majority of the 21st century. Their perennial championship expectations quickly went out of the window once mismanagement caught up to them over two decades ago, sending them to the basement of the Eastern Conference, where they wallowed for years.

They've surged back into the class of playoff regulars in recent years, but their wily-looking approach to free agency gave many NBA fans unpleasant flashbacks to how they approached basketball operations during their time away from positive notoriety.

New York eventually pulled the trigger on offering Mike Brown the job after a month of leaving no stone unturned, and though there's many coaches out there with worse approval ratings, not everyone is convinced that these Knicks are as calculated as this new regime wants people to think.

Legendary talking heads Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon touched on the matter on "Pardon the Interruption," and while Wilbon spoke glowingly of Brown, Kornheiser went a step further in analyzing how the hire's been discussed., stating that he's no "consolation prize."

PTI takes on the Knicks hiring Mike Brown as head coach...

Tony Kornheiser: "He's a professional coach, and he's being hired, if it happens, by a management that is amateurish... Mike Brown is on some level better than the Knicks deserve right now." #NBA pic.twitter.com/APFFHTQLib
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 2, 2025

“He’s a professional coach, and he’s being hired, if it happens, by a management that is amateurish,” Kornheiser claimed. “Every single thing the Knicks have done, including firing Tom Thibodeau, has made them look worse. Day by day, worse. So, he is…Mike Brown is on some level better than the Knicks deserve right now.”

He clearly doesn't trust Leon Rose and co., who, to their credit, have approached free agency and the open market with all of the patience they've continually demonstrated over the 2020s. They made savvy margin moves to acquire high-level bench help in Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele on cheap deals, and have yet to lose any key rotational pieces so far this summer.

The team's wide-ranging search for a Tom Thibodeau successor took many turns, but they still ended up with arguably the most qualified coach for the New York job between Brown's lauded offensive creativity and preparation, as well as his ability to collaborate with a front office. They set out to find someone who met a very specific set of criteria, and they got him.

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

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