Coach Mike Brown finally got over the hump and achieved his first NBA championship as a head coach. The New York Knicks were dominant in this year’s playoffs, and his leadership was crucial throughout. However, it was a long road to prominence for Mike Brown, filled with patience and learning behind some legendary NBA coaches.
Early coaching years
Starting his coaching career with the Washington Wizards in 1997, Brown took a backseat as an assistant coach for Bernie Bickerstaff. The Wizards had just rebranded from the Bullets and drafted a young star in Chris Webber. Brown’s first season was not great, but the young team showcased promise. However, the team started to derail after the lockout season of 1998, and the Wizards ended up trading Webber.
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After departing from the Wizards in 1999, Brown had his eyes set on San Antonio, where he would assistant future Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich. While his time with the Spurs was short-lived, he was still able to win his first championship in 2003.
The following brief stint behind renowned coach Rick Carlisle with the Indiana Pacers prepared Brown for the next big step of his career.
First head coach position
Mike Brown’s assistant coach resume was now stocked up, so he was more than prepared to coach a team of his own. Who better to start your head coaching career than with a young phenom in LeBron James? The Cavaliers performed very well during Brown’s stint from 2005-2010, reaching the Finals in 2007 and winning 60 games multiple times. He also won his first Coach of The Year Award in 2009. However, to please LeBron, the Cavs fired Brown due to consecutive playoff losses.
High expectations
Brown proceeded to find himself in some unfortunate situations, where the organizations had some high standards for him. He took over in Los Angeles for one of the greatest coaches ever, Phil Jackson, and the team had recently won back-to-back championships with Kobe Bryant. Brown took the team to the playoffs in his first season but fell short in the semifinals. After this season, the front office made huge moves, acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.
Now, Mike Brown had much weight on his shoulders, as the Lakers expected this team to be one of the greatest ever assembled. After starting the 2012 season 1-4, Brown was swiftly fired. It is safe to say, the Lakers might have overreacted a bit.
Speaking of overreacting, a similar situation occurred when Brown returned to the Cavs at the beginning of the 2013 season. The front office expected Brown to repeat what he did his first time around, but how could he? He did have another young star in Kyrie Irving, but he was not LeBron James. The team did not mesh well either, as shooting guard Dion Waiters consistently bumped heads with Irving. After winning 33 games and missing the playoffs, the Cavs fired Brown in his first year of a 5-year contract.
While it was not really his fault for his teams’ shortcomings, Brown went back to what he did best: assisting great NBA coaches.
Back to winning
After falling short in the NBA Finals, the Warriors brought Brown aboard at the beginning of the 2016 season. He would end up working closely with revered head coach Steve Kerr in establishing a dynasty in Golden State. The coaching staff had much help due to the play of their star players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, but regardless, Brown added three championships to his resume from 2016-2022.
Kerr heavily credits Brown for the success of the Warriors, as he has called him “an exceptional mentor and brilliant defensive tactician.” Brown also picked up the slack when Kerr was unavailable. While Kerr was out with back issues in 2017, Brown led the Warriors to an 11-0 start to begin the postseason. Quite an accomplishment in one’s first year with a team.
Let’s try that again
With such a successful campaign with the Warriors under his belt, Brown returned to head coaching and joined the Sacramento Kings in 2022. During this stint, Brown ended a 17-year playoff drought for the organization and earned his second Coach of the Year Award in 2023. Unfortunately, internal issues caused the team to go into a slump halfway through the 2024 season.
Once again, the front office used Brown as a scapegoat and fired him. While many cited that Brown did not deserve this firing, he is probably not complaining now.
With over 500 regular seasons wins, and now a championship, Brown should be looked at as a prominent head coach of our time. This historic run with the Knicks alone should tout him highly, as the team set a new NBA record in playoff point differential: +283 (surpassing Brown’s ex-team of the Warriors in 2017: +230).
Every NBA fan will watch closely to see if Brown will take the high expectations on the chin this time going into the 2026 season.
