Mike Brown’s coaching performance throughout the 2026 NBA Playoffs kept the Knicks on top all the way to the title.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Complete coverage:\u00a02026 NBA Finals<\/a> SAN ANTONIO (AP) \u2014 Mike Brown didn\u2019t seem to be the New York Knicks\u2019 first choice to\u00a0take over as coach<\/a>\u00a0last spring, when the\u00a0team fired Tom Thibodeau<\/a>\u00a0and was linked to\u00a0at least a half-dozen other candidates<\/a>\u00a0who held various jobs around the NBA.<\/p>\n In the end, he clearly was the\u00a0right choice<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brown is now a five-time NBA champion coach \u2014 four of those rings won as an assistant, the fifth coming as head coach of the Knicks. He joins only Red Holzman on the list of those who won titles as coach of the Knicks, and fittingly, he did it on June 13.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a banner in\u00a0Madison Square Garden<\/a>\u00a0that says \u201cHolzman 613\u201d to commemorate his win total with the franchise. Brown won this title on 6\/13.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pretty good at trying to control what I can control,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI had zero control over who else was interviewing, who was denied permission. I had zero control over that. I just did the best I could in the interview process. I went about my business and waited until it was either going to progress or end. \u2026 I was pretty nonchalant about it as time went on. I just let it\u00a0unfold the way it unfolded<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown speaks fondly of his days with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, a place his family still calls home \u2014 and the place where the\u00a0Knicks captured this title after topping the Spurs in five games<\/a>. He raves about his years coaching with Steve Kerr in Golden State as well.<\/p>\n
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