Mike Brown has chance to validate Knicks hire with NBA Cup victory

LAS VEGAS — It was just over a year ago that Mike Brown was fired from the Kings, sending his coaching future into uncertainty. 

Now, his new Knicks squad is thriving under his tutelage and in the NBA Cup final.

The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau after reaching the Eastern Conference finals and leading them to their best season in 25 years, a move that set Finals-or-bust expectations.

Ultimately, that will be what Brown is judged on. 

But winning the Cup would represent something tangible to indicate the Knicks made the right decision hiring him. 

“In life, change happens, not just for me but for everybody else, and you’ve got to be ready to pivot,” Brown said after practice on Monday. “I feel fortunate, blessed, lucky, however you want to call it, to be in this situation here with the New York Knicks. You don’t have a lot of control over your destiny or your path a lot of times, and so for me to be able to land within an organization like this with the type of players that are here, with the owner and Leon [Rose] and his group, again, you just take advantage of it. So I don’t have a lot of time to reflect on the past. 

Knicks head coach Mike Brown speaking to the media after practice at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

“I’m about being present and trying to figure out where we can go as an organization and a city going forward.” 

Firing Thibodeau was the biggest decision of Rose’s tenure as president and his biggest gamble.

There was a clear vision that a new coach could bring the Knicks to a new level, and there were significant stakes to make the right choice with his replacement. 

Brown has already gotten further than Thibodeau, who lost in the quarterfinals both times he coached in the NBA Cup, ever did in this competition.

Winning on Tuesday would be an even greater step forward. 

“Our relationship has grown,” Jalen Brunson said on Monday of Brown. “Our communication is great, the way we talk about things. Haven’t really had any negative conversations or anything like that, but he’s been great. The way he’s holding all of us accountable, pushing us, it’s something that we need from him, and we’re really thankful for him.”