Knicks Coach's Finals Teams Have One Commonality

After a half-decade of excess, the New York Knicks may be asked to do a little less under new head coach Mike Brown.

While played to previously unattainable heights, prior boss Tom Thibodeau's hefty individual expectations apparently wore thin on New York decision makers, who ousted him in favor of Brown. The latter's official coronation as Knicks head coach went down this week and he made a point of centering on sacrifices when discussing the key to NBA Finals trips.

When it comes to culture, it's going to be based on a trust, a trust that's centered around sacrifice, a connectivity, a competitive spirit and an overall belief in the process and each other," Brown said in his introductory statements broadcast on MSG Network.

"I've been to six Finals with three different teams and the commonality that they all had is they all sacrifice for one another. They're all connected. The connectivity, it's at the highest, and it starts with ownership on down. They all have a competitive spirit, and there's a high level of belief, not just in the process, but each other."

Some in New York may find the sacrifice aspect to be a challenge after playing massive minutes under Thibodeau, but the Knicks would be wise to heed Brown's words considering his frequent visits to men's basketball's grandest stage.

Since the Knicks' last visit in 1999, six different versions of the NBA Finals have featured some form of Brown, whether it be as an assistant or a head coach. While he fell in his only stop as a top man (2007 with the Cleveland Cavaliers), Brown has earned four rings between his stops on the benches of San Antonio and Golden State. During his run to the 2017 title with the latter, Brown posted a perfect 12-0 record as acting head coach while Steve Kerr recovered from an injury.

Such a track record, as well as Brown's supposed shortcoming at the top helm, will only heighten expectations in his maiden Manhattan voyage: the Knicks are fresh off their first conference finals showing in a quarter-century and are set to bring back a good number of names responsible for that trek.

Brown embraced the expectations with open arms, having previously worked with spotlight-heavy teams in Cleveland and Los Angeles.

"My expectations are high," Brown firmly declared. "This is the Knicks. I talked about Madison Square Garden being iconic. I talked about our fans. I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it. So I'm looking forward to it."

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