Article graphics by Omar Zahran (@omarzahran.bsky.social on Bluesky)
There are a lot of figures with the Knicks this year who entered the season with pressure: Jalen Brunson to prove he can lead a team to a title, Karl-Anthony Towns to validate his career, and Mikal Bridges to prove he was worth the draft compensation to acquire him, to name a few. But perhaps the person with the most pressure isn’t a player, but the head coach, Mike Brown.
After five seasons of the Tom Thibodeau experience, Brown was hired to take the team to the next level with a more collaborative, player-friendly approach. In a sense, he was billed as an anti-Thibodeau—more adaptable and willing to change on the fly. The Knicks are on pace to slightly eclipse last year’s win total and have shown improvements at times over the final Thibodeau year. But ultimately, Brown will be judged on what he does in the postseason, and there is little room for error.
