The New York Knicks are expected to be a serious NBA Finals contender in 2025-26. After getting within two games of the Finals last season, the Knicks made some key offseason additions (Jordan Clarkson, Malcom Brogdon, Guerschon Yabusele) and will be playing in an Eastern Conference weakened by the absences of Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.
New York put the NBA on notice during last season’s playoffs when they ousted the defending champion Boston Celtics, who lost Tatum during the series to an Achilles tear. What’s in danger of being swept under the rug about that Knicks-Celtics series is that New York was in prime position to win the series way before Tatum went down. There’s a very good chance New York would have ultimately advanced even if Tatum had never gotten injurted.
In short, the Jalen Brunson-led Knicks are a force in the East.
Weirdly, New York fired its head coach, Tom Thibodeau, shortly after the Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference FInals. New York’s management cited the need for a new voice.
After a somewhat embarrassing head coaching search that involved attempting to court currently-employed head coaches away from their NBA teams, the Knicks ultimately hired Mike Brown to replace Thibodeau.
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And with media day arriving for the Knickerbockers on Tuesday, the Mike Brown era was officially underway.
In speaking with reporters, Brunson and Knicks guard Josh Hart acknowledged that they are excited about Brown, but they also showed love to Thibodeau.
“I think obviously it’s sad to see a man I’ve known for a long time part ways with this organization,” Brunson said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “But he’s meant a lot to me. I’ve expressed that to him, publicly and personally. He’s meant a lot to my career up to this point.”
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“Obviously, I love Thibs,” Hart said, per Bontemps. “I’m always going to have love for Thibs for the things that he helped me with and putting me in a position to get paid. So I always got love for him. Hope he’s doing well right now. But obviously, we have Mike and we’re extremely excited about what he brings to the table offensively and defensively. Obviously, there’s going to be a little bit of a feeling-out process, but we’re excited. We’re excited for what this team has, what this team can be.”
