Breaking: New York Knicks Hire Former Kings Head Coach

The New York Knicks have signed former Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown to be their next head coach.

Dec 8, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown talks to media members before the game against the Utah Jazz at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks have found their coach, hiring former Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown to be their next head coach.

BREAKING: The New York Knicks are expected to land on two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown as the franchise's next head coach, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/LOXb74LFe4

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025

As well as his time with the Kings, Brown has coached the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, amassing a 454-304 (.599) record through 11 seasons. In three and a half seasons with the Kings, Brown finished with a 107-88 (.549) record.

But his time with the Kings came to an abrupt end last season after the Kings lost 5 straight games to fall to 13-18. Brown was given an extension in the previous offseason, but Sacramento was reluctant to do so, and they ended up letting go of the coach months later.

Brown's departure ultimately led to De'Aaron Fox being traded to the San Antonio Spurs and sent the Kings' season into a spiral they weren't able to truly climb out of.

Brown joins a New York Knicks team that is coming off an Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Indiana Pacers and will have high expectations to compete for a championship this upcoming season.

While on the Kings, Brown was constantly looking to build a defensive identify and find defensive players. He'll now have OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart at his disposal to help improve the Knicks' 13th-ranked defense from last season.

It will be interested to see if Mike Brown takes a similar approach to sacrificing offense for defense like he did in Sacramento. In his first season with the Kings, Sacramento had the best offense in the league, but took a step back on that end to try to improve on defense.

The Knicks finished last season with the fifth-ranked offense. While 13th for defense isn't bad, it's likely the most clear path for the Knicks to improve enough to get over the hump and win a championship.