Knicks new head coach is not thinking about the past as he begins new journey

“First of all, Tom’s a tremendous coach and he is a friend of mine, but I don’t want to get to the past,” Brown said (h/t Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press). “I’m just excited about the roster. I’m excited about the things that we’re going to put in place here and where we could go with the guys that we have.”

Thibodeau coached the Knicks for five seasons from 2020-25. During his tenure, he helped turn around a franchise full of sorrow and turned them into a competitive team in the Eastern Conference, making the playoffs in four of the five seasons with him as the head coach.

Brown will face a ton of pressure in his first season as the new head coach

New York decided to go in a different direction, with the pressure to win a title increased. The team had high expectations coming into last season, but fell short of making the NBA Finals. Now, reaching it is going to be what many consider to be the bare minimum for next season.

Brown will have himself a deep roster to work with in his first year with the Knicks. All of the starters are expected to return, and they added Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency to shore up the bench unit.

The pressure will be on for Brown to help lead the team to a title next season, but early on, it seems he is ready to take on the big challenge.