Mike Brown's 'Leadership' Reportedly Among Knicks' Determining Factors for HC Hire

Mike Brown's collaboration and leadership skills were determining factors toward the New York Knicks hiring him as their next head coach, per ESPN's Shams Charania on Wednesday's edition of NBA Today.

"I'm told two factors played into the Knicks' decision to land on Mike Brown as the head coach. They felt as a collaborator, someone that's adaptable with all levels of the organization, the front office, to the players, they felt on all levels, he would collaborate well.

"And then the other factor is leadership and what he provides in that lens. Leon Rose, the Knicks president, his staff, they did hours of research on which coach will really come in and fit the group around Jalen Brunson."

Brown was the only head coach candidate who interviewed twice with the Knicks. The other finalists were former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins, New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and Minnesota Timberwolves lead assistant coach Micah Nori.

In the end, the Knicks chose Brown, a two-time Coach of the Year. As Charania noted, there are "championship expectations" in town, especially after the Knicks just reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. At this time, New York appears ready to bring back the entire core from that team, led by All-NBA Second Teamer Jalen Brunson.

Charania also called this a "pressure cooker of a job," and it's easy to see why. Aside from coaching in a big media market, the Knicks just parted ways with a head coach in Tom Thibodeau who led New York to the playoffs in four of the past five seasons. New York made the playoffs just four times from 2001-02 to 2019-20, the year prior to Thibodeau's arrival.

But Brown is clearly being called in to take the Knicks to a championship, a height the team hasn't reached since 1973. Brown does have great talent to work with, but the heat's clearly on in town.

Still, Brown is an accomplished coach in his own right. He once guided the 2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals and led the Sacramento Kings to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. We'll find out soon enough if he's up for the task, but the Leon Rose-led front office clearly has faith in him.