Knicks to hire Mike Brown as head coach: sources

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Jul 2, 2025

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NEW YORK — Turn on the jets. Mike Brown is coming to Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks are expected to hire Brown to replace Tom Thibodeau and become the 32nd head coach in franchise history, league sources told the New York Daily News. Brown is one of just 11 in NBA history to win Coach of the Year honors more than once. He helped end the Sacramento Kings’ 16-year playoff drought in 2023 and coached LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers to a 66-win season in 2009.

Now, the coach who brought an equal parts tough and fun-loving culture to Sacramento is responsible for taking a Knicks team fresh off of back-to-back 50-win seasons and an Eastern Conference finals appearance to championship heights in a conference blown wide open with injuries to Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers) and Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers). Brown has won four NBA championships as an assistant coach, including one on Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs staff in 2003 and three on Steve Kerr’s bench with the Golden State Warriors. He has made one NBA Finals appearance as a head coach: in 2007, when LeBron and the Cavaliers won the East and lost to the Spurs in the Finals.

The Knicks identified Brown as a top candidate to replace Thibodeau early in their process, according to a league source, and believed he displayed two major qualities they brain trust wanted to see in its next head coach: leadership and collaboration. As the NBA’s only team with a head-coaching vacancy, the Knicks were patient and thorough in their search, which included touching base with rival organizations regarding their own, under-contract head coaches before beginning a traditional process of welcoming free-agent candidates for interviews. Brown impressed during his first round of interviews then came back for a second this week. The Knicks were happy their process led them to Brown, league sources told The News, and the Leon Rose-led front office values a coach with his track record and experience.

Brown has won everywhere he’s been. His 492-305 coaching record ranks third in winning percentage (.599) among active coaches with at least 250 games coached, and Brown ranks 47th on the all-time coaching wins leaderboard. He owned a 107-88 record in his two-plus seasons in Sacramento, delivering on consecutive 46-plus-win seasons with a lackluster Kings roster in the toughened Western Conference. The Kings fired Brown 31 games into last season after a 13-18 start, a move met with frustration from his head-coaching peers. Sacramento went 7-1 and won 23 of its next 43 games after promoting Doug Christie to head coach but ultimately missed the playoffs after finishing ninth in the Western Conference.

The Knicks, however, were impressed Brown orchestrated the best offensive efficiency in NBA history with the Kings in the 2022-23 season and has boasted a top-10 offense six times as a head coach, according to a source. Brown also went 12-0 as interim head coach when filling in for Kerr during the Warriors’ 2017 championship run. He has extensive experience working with NBA superstars — LeBron on the Cavaliers; Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in Golden State; Kobe Bryant during a quick stint with the Los Angeles Lakers — and De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, who both earned All-Star honors in Sacramento under Brown’s lead.

Now, Brown can add new names to the list: Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, the All-Star duo hoping to punch the franchise’s first ticket to the NBA Finals since 2000. Brown is expected to inherit a loaded Knicks roster also featuring key wings Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, defensive anchor Mitchell Robinson, two-way play-maker Josh Hart, and a bolstered second unit of Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele. He will also have 2024 draft picks Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek and Ariel Hukporti on the roster to develop into options for a deep Knicks bench. In Sacramento, Brown helped develop Keegan Murray into one of the NBA’s more coveted 3-and-D wings and Keon Ellis into a reliable backup guard.

The Knicks and Brown have not yet made a decision on a coaching staff, a league source told The News, but Brown reportedly views former Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego as a key addition to the staff. The Knicks employed Daniel Brady, Rick Brunson, Mark Bryant, Maurice Cheeks, Darren Erman, Andy Greer and Othella Harrington as assistants on Thibodeau’s staff last season.

The Knicks remain singularly-focused on winning a championship, according to a source, and believe this the Brown hire moves them closer bringing the city its first title in more than 50 years.

Brown is the second head coach Rose has hired since taking over as Knicks president in 2020.