Knicks Hire Mike Brown | Stephen A. Smith Reacts: “Not Exciting, But Smart” - Vidéo Dailymotion

SportsLand

🗽 Stephen A. Smith reacts to the New York Knicks’ decision to hire Mike Brown as their new head coach. Speaking on SportsCenter, Stephen A. says the move “lacks sizzle but not credentials,” praising Brown’s experience while questioning the excitement factor.  The Knicks passed on flashier names in favor of a seasoned tactician. Is this the right direction for a franchise hungry for playoff success? Stephen A. breaks down Brown’s fit, coaching résumé, and whether this hire will elevate New York in a crowded Eastern Conference.  🔖 Hashtags + Keyword Tags (Inside the Description) Hashtags: #StephenASmith #Knicks #MikeBrown #NBANews #SportsCenter #KnicksCoach #NBA2025 #ESPN #KnicksHire  Keyword Tags (Inside Description): Stephen A. reacts Mike Brown, Knicks hire Mike Brown, Knicks head coach 2025, Stephen A. Knicks breakdown, Knicks coaching change, Mike Brown coaching record, ESPN Knicks coverage, Knicks playoff hopes, NBA coaching news, SportsCenter Stephen A.  🏷️ Keyword Tags (Outside Description – Upload Tags) Stephen A. reacts Mike Brown, Knicks hire Mike Brown, Knicks head coach 2025, Stephen A. Knicks breakdown, Knicks coaching change, Mike Brown coaching record, ESPN Knicks coverage, Knicks playoff hopes, NBA coaching news, SportsCenter Stephen A., NBA 2025

Transcript

00:00Back here on SportsCenter, we've got Stephen A. Smith to weigh in on this news.

00:06The Knicks hire Mike Brown as their new head coach, Stephen A. Smith,

00:09joining us now on the phone.

00:11And Stephen A., we know you're a huge Knicks fan.

00:14Your reaction to this hire?

00:16Well, I respect the hell out of Mike Brown.

00:18I will honestly tell you it lacks sizzle, but certainly not credentials.

00:23I mean, he's a four-time champion as an assistant coach.

00:26He achieved those rings by working under two of the greatest coaches the game has ever seen

00:30in Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr.

00:32On top of all of that, he's a two-time coach of the year, 2009 in Cleveland

00:37and obviously a couple of years back in Sacramento.

00:40He's coached a team to an NBA Finals, which is what he did with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

00:44And then when you combine all of that with the fact that he's won 60% of his games

00:48and he got it to Sacramento Kings for their first playoff berth in 16 years,

00:52after a 16-year absence, which was an NBA record at the time,

00:56you can't sit up there and question the credentials of this hire.

01:01Mike Brown is qualified as a head coach in the NBA circles.

01:04He deserves this opportunity.

01:06It's just that obviously when you just came within two games of an NBA Finals

01:10and you decide to let go of your coach that is Tom Thibodeau,

01:14you're expecting a bigger name.

01:16But there's nobody this way, meaning me, that's going to question the credentials of Mike Brown

01:20and the fact that he's worthy and deserving of this opportunity.

01:24And you laid it all out right there, the credentials, the pedigree.

01:27With all the injuries and uncertainty in the East next year,

01:30what are your expectations for this New York Knicks team?

01:33Well, I expect them to be right back where we last saw them,

01:36which was in the Eastern Conference Finals,

01:37because the Boston Celtics don't have Jason Tatum.

01:40The Milwaukee Bucks don't have Damian Lillard to pair with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

01:46Even though Orlando just picked up Desmond Bain,

01:48you still expect the Knicks to be right there with them.

01:51The Cleveland Cavaliers had an exceptional season,

01:54can't get much better than the season they had during the regular season,

01:57and yet we saw how they bowed out in the postseason.

02:00And so when you take all of those things into consideration

02:02and you're looking at the fact that the New York Knicks' top seven players

02:05remain on their roster,

02:08you're talking about Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns,

02:11Mikel Bridges, O.G. Ananobi, Mitchell Robinson, Michael McBride,

02:14and obviously Josh Hart, the Energizer Bunny himself,

02:17they haven't gone anywhere,

02:18so why should we expect less from the New York Knicks?

02:21We should expect at least the same.

02:23And there's been a lot of talk about the similarities

02:25and differences between Mike Brown and Tom Thibodeau.

02:28How do you think Mike Brown's coaching style fits with this Knicks roster?

02:32Well, I definitely think that he's a bit calmer and less intense

02:35than Tom Thibodeau.

02:37And by the way, he also has better credentials.

02:40Even though Tom Thibodeau is a champion as an assistant coach,

02:43well, Mike Brown's a four-time champion.

02:45But Tom Thibodeau never took a team to the finals as a head coach.

02:48Mike Brown did, although he had LeBron James at his disposal

02:51instead of Jalen Brunson.

02:53So we get the fact that they're comparable coaches,

02:55and Mike Brown, from a personality standpoint,

02:58I personally love Thibs.

03:00I think that he's an approachable person,

03:03an exceptional coach, et cetera, et cetera,

03:04but clearly very intense as we see him on the sidelines

03:07where Mike Brown may come across as a bit more relaxed,

03:11not as panicky as Tom Thibodeau in terms of having a winning record,

03:17winning basketball games,

03:18and still feeling compelled to have your starters out there late in games

03:23because, Lord help us,

03:25you might be able to come back from a 20-point lead with 60 seconds left.

03:28That's the kind of stuff that Tom Thibodeau is known.

03:31I'm being facetious to some degree,

03:33but that's just to explain his intensity.

03:35Mike Brown is a little less intense as a personality,

03:38but very much intense as a coach,

03:41certainly intense enough to be committed to getting the job done,

03:44and obviously his record,

03:46his credentials as a head coach in this league are not to be questioned.

03:49Kobe Bryant may have had questions when he was alive,

03:52God rest his soul, from time to time.

03:53LeBron James may have had questions when Mike Brown was coaching them,

03:57relatively young in his career,

03:58before he arrived in Golden State and helped Steve Kerr

04:01and the Golden State Warriors capture three championships,

04:04or at least before with LeBron James instead of Kobe.

04:06In the end, he's proven himself as a head coach in this game,

04:10and the New York Knicks, we can't look at them and say

04:12they don't have a quality head coach.

04:14That would be a misnomer.

04:15That would be a flat-out lie.

04:16That is not the case for Mike Brown.

04:18The man can coach, and he's proven it,

04:19and he deserves this opportunity.

04:21And, look, we saw it last season,

04:23the Knicks getting to the Eastern Conference Finals

04:24for the first time in 25 years.

04:26What needs to be different this upcoming season

04:29in order for them to get over the hump with Mike Brown?

04:32Well, I think they need to exercise their depth.

04:34That's why I'm glad to see them about to sign Jordan Clarkson

04:38and this guy Gershon.

04:40It's really good to get to see them have two additional guys

04:44that you can come off the bench and throw out there

04:46because the starters were worn down,

04:48and that's one of the things.

04:49I said it many times.

04:50I'll say it again.

04:51The greatest line of the NBA season

04:53came from TNT's very own Kenny the Jet Smith

04:56when he said Tom Thibodeau would have a problem

05:01playing nine guys in a baseball game.

05:03That's what he said.

05:04And we all know you need nine guys on the field in baseball.

05:07Tom Thibodeau would have a problem with that.

05:08That's not Mike Brown.

05:09Mike Brown is going to use his depth

05:11if the opportunity is presented to him to do so.

05:13He's not going to have to be pushed into doing that.

05:16He's the kind of individual that he recognizes

05:18the importance of depth,

05:19and that's something that he'll utilize,

05:21particularly during the regular season

05:23going into the playoffs and stuff like that.

05:24So I think that's the difference in their personalities.

05:26But in the end, the Knicks have to exercise that depth,

05:29and they have to have an additional big

05:31that you can put at the five

05:32so you're not asking Carl Anthony Towns to do that.

05:34He's a shooter.

05:35He's a big who shoots the basketball

05:37from the perimeter, preferably from three-point range.

05:40That's what you want from Carl Anthony Towns.

05:42That's what you need from Carl Anthony Towns.

05:44You need to make sure that you've got another big

05:46so he doesn't have to play the five.

05:47And Stephen A weighing in on this huge Knicks hire.

05:50Stephen A, thanks so much for the insight.

05:52The Knicks hope Mike Brown will have some of the same

05:55first-season success he had in Sacramento

05:57when he led the Kings to an 18-win turnaround

06:00in his first season there.

06:02He had an eight-or-more win improvement

06:04from the previous year's record in his first season

06:07in three of his four head coaching stops.

06:10Our NBA front office insider Bobby Marks joins us right now.

06:13And by before this hire, the Knicks,

06:15they already made some moves in free agency.

06:17However, now with Mike Brown in the reins as a head coach,

06:21do you anticipate Mike Brown maybe changing the way

06:24this Knicks team approaches free agency

06:26from this point forward?

06:27I don't think so.

06:28I think it's a unique situation where you have

06:31a new head coach is walking into a win-now roster

06:34that has already added two free agents

06:36in Jordan Clarkson and Gershon Yavaselli.

06:39And let's face it, New York, based on what's happened

06:42with the other teams, Boston, certainly Milwaukee, Indiana.

06:46Them and Cleveland are the favorites

06:47in the Eastern Conference,

06:49just with those two minor moves here.

06:51And it is a unique situation.

06:52And they'll rely on his experience in Golden State

06:55and certainly that one year in Sacramento

06:56when they reach the first round of the playoffs.

06:59We talked about, you know, Mike Brown

07:01being a four-time NBA champion as an assistant.

07:04Bobby, what about Mike Brown's NBA coaching history

07:06makes you believe he can succeed with this Knicks team?

07:09Well, I think we go back to that first year in Sacramento,

07:12what he was able to do when he won.

07:14He was only removed from winning coach of the year

07:16about three years ago.

07:18And that's an offense that ranked number one

07:20in offensive efficiency with Sacramento.

07:23And he's inheriting a Knick team

07:24that's top five in offensive efficiency.

07:27And certainly we saw that,

07:28the struggles a little bit in the playoffs.

07:30And I think if you're Leon Rose,

07:32their president of basketball operations,

07:33you're leaning on Mike Brown

07:34to give a little bit of a different voice

07:37as far as how you can go about doing that.

07:38Look, I want to throw this at you.

07:40We talked about the expectations for this Knicks team,

07:43obviously went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

07:46An NBA championship is on their mind.

07:49I mean, with a new head coach,

07:50how much more movement on this roster

07:52needs to be made in order for them to get over the hump?

07:55Yeah, there's the one side

07:57that you're relying on continuity.

07:59You know, that's usually a plus

08:01when you look at the starting five returns.

08:03You also have Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride.

08:06And as I said, you bring back those two players.

08:09I do think continuity matters here.

08:11They've made some major changes

08:13with Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikael Bridges.

08:16I think you walk into a situation,

08:18and I think a year from now,

08:19if this team hasn't gotten to a conference finals,

08:21then you can evaluate it here.

08:23But I don't think you can make overall changes

08:26just because a coach is walking into

08:27an already made situation.

08:29Look, the Knicks with plenty of moves made

08:31on this Wednesday afternoon.

08:33Bobby, thanks so much.

08:34We'll see you next time.

Knicks Hire Mike Brown | Stephen A. Smith Reacts: “Not Exciting, But Smart”

Catégorie

Transcription

Recommandations