The New York Knicks are expected to hire two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown as their new head coach, according to reports.
After controversially firing Tom Thibodeau last month, the Knicks initially encountered difficulty in their search for his replacement when they were denied interviews with a number of potential candidates.
In the end New York officials reportedly managed to hold interviews with former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, New Orleans Pelicans associate coach James Borrego and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as well as Brown, although the latter was the only one who they spoke with on multiple occasions.
And according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Brown is now on the verge of becoming the Knicks’ new head coach after making a breakthrough in discussions.
The 55-year-old most recently spent three seasons in charge of the Sacramento Kings, before being fired last December after a 13-18 start to the season.
He led the franchise to its first playoff berth in 16 seasons back in 2023, which broke the longest postseason drought in NBA history and earned him his second NBA Coach of the Year prize in the process.
The New York Knicks are expected to hire Mike Brown (pictured) as their new head coach
The team fired Tom Thibodeau despite him leading them to the Eastern Conference Finals
Brown previously enjoyed head-coaching roles with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he picked up his first Coach of the Year award in 2009, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The veteran coach has also had success as an assistant, having become a three-time champion under Steve Kerr in Golden State and helping Gregg Popovich land an NBA title in San Antonio.
Brown has a tough act to follow in New York after Thibodeau’s historic run to the Eastern Conference finals with the Knicks last season.
The New York franchise, which has not reached the NBA Finals since 1999 and failed to win it altogether since 1973, saw its championship hopes ended in six games by the Indiana Pacers at the end of May.
Thibodeau was brutally dismissed on the back of the decisive Game 6 defeat, despite masterminding the Knicks’ most successful season for a quarter of a century.
According to the New York Post, before deciding on Brown as their top candidate the Knicks reached out to University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
It’s unclear if the discussion that the Knicks had with Staley – one of the most successful coaches in the women’s game – was a formal interview or more to gauge interest.
South Carolina’s athletic director, Jeremiah Donati, confirmed the Knicks spoke to their coach – telling On3, ‘If I were them, I would have called her too.’
