The New York Knicks have officially put the Tom Thibodeau era behind them, and ushered in the era of Mike Brown.
Earlier this week, Brown was officially introduced as the new head coach of the Knicks. Brown was previously the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, and has also coached the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers in the past.
At his introductory press conferences, Brown offered his thoughts on his predecessor, paying respects to the one who laid the foundation before him.
“First of all, Tom’s a tremendous coach and he is a friend of mine,” Brown said per Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. “But I don’t want to get to the past, I’m just excited about the roster. I’m excited about the things that we’re going to put in place here and where we could go with the guys that we have.”
Brown will be inheriting a good situation left behind by Thibodeau. The team has won a playoff series in each of the last three seasons, and last season made it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
Equipped with a roster that includes two All-NBA players in Jalen Brunson, and Karl-Anthony Towns, along with solid wings such as OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks are built to go far. However, the expectations will be lofty for Brown in year 1, and anything short of an appearance in the NBA Finals could be seen as a failure.