Mike Brown is entering the first year of his tenure as head coach of the Knicks with the goal of winning an NBA championship. There will likely be growing pains, relationships to build, and trust to earn along the way. It will take a collective effort to get where they hope to go. All that said, one game early next year will hold some extra weight for Brown, the Knicks' trip to play the Sacramento Kings on January 14.
Brown coached the Kings from the start of the 2022-23 season through 31 games of the 2024-25 season, before ultimately being fired by the organization after starting the year 13-18. Over the two and a half years he coached the Kings, they posted a total record of 107-88.
For Brown, that game will be the first opportunity for him to prove the Kings made a mistake by not keeping him around. Prior to him taking over as head coach, the Kings had not won over 40 games or made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season.
Brown will be under lots of pressure
While a win against his former team would undoubtedly bring a ton of short-term satisfaction for Brown, he will have bigger pressure from the weight of the expectations that he will be carrying all season long.
Tom Thibodeau was fired just weeks after he led the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. No matter how you slice it, if the Knicks don't win a championship or at least make it to the finals this season, the year will be viewed as a failure by many.
There has been no public mention on how short of a leash Brown will have with ownership and the front office, but if the Knicks get off to a slow start or fizzle out in the early rounds of the playoffs, Brown's seat will start getting hot very quickly.
Brown is embracing the pressure
Even though he has yet to even coach a game for the Knicks, there may be no other coach in the league under more pressure than Brown is. The good thing for Knicks fans is that Brown seems aware of the expectations that are in front of him.
During his opening press conference, Brown made it immediately clear that the goal wasn't just to win a championship, it was to win multiple championships. Saying that is one thing, though; now he has to prove it.