Knicks Notes: Brown, Brunson, Jent, Robinson

It was less than two years ago that Mike Brown was fired by the Kings as Sacramento had yet another poor start to a season. Now he is the coach who brought the Larry O’Brien trophy back to New York.

“He understands what it is to be a champion,” said Knicks star and Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “He understands how to build a team, how to build habits that will put you in this position. And we’re so grateful, so thankful to have him at the top. He kept us even so many times. He’s brought the best out of us as people first, and, man, I’m so happy for him. He’s the reason why we’re (champions).”

Brown, who in addition to being a two-time Coach of the Year, now can boast five championship rings, four of which came as an assistant, made the right decisions and pressed the right buttons throughout the Knicks’ miraculous 16-3 playoff run.

“He’s done a great job of adjusting our team to give us the best chance to win,” said Karl-Anthony Towns after Game 4. “The spot we’re in now is because of his courage and trust to change what we were doing and put us in a better position.”

Brown’s performance as Knicks coach is particularly noteworthy, given that he didn’t appear to be the team’s first choice after firing Tom Thibodeau last summer, Tim Reynolds writes for the Associated Press. Whether or not he was the top option, he showed that he was the best option with his poise, personality, and commitment to excellence.

One crucial decision from Brown was to meet with his five starters before the playoffs began, both individually and then as a group, and let them air any grievances they might have with how the season had gone, Justin Tasch writes for the New York Post. Brunson’s dad, Rick Brunson, said that the meetings “were pivotal to New York’s playoff success.”

We have more Knicks news and notes:

• Brunson is shorter than 95% of the NBA, Stefan Bondy writes for the New York Post, but through his heart and his fight, he has left an outsized shadow that will last forever. His 45-point performance, which accounted for nearly half the team’s 94 points, was a masterpiece in which every point was crucial to ending the series without any possibility of a Spurs comeback. “It’s everything I dreamed of,” Brunson said afterward. “It’s why I came to New York.” Brunson bet on himself when he left the Mavericks and Luka Doncic to be the star of his own team, but he also bet on the Knicks when he took a substantial pay cut to give president Leon Rose the necessary flexibility to fill out the roster as Rose saw fit, Reynolds writes. Rose rewarded that faith by bringing in players Brunson trusted and who could complement his skillset in the right ways. Of course, none of that would have mattered without the crucial ingredient: Brunson’s consummate leadership, Gary Washburn writes for the Boston Globe, who says that for a Celtics fan, only someone as humble and built the right way like Brunson could make the Knicks likable.
• Brown made sure that the world knew that when it came to the coaching staff, he didn’t achieve anything alone. He shouted out one particular coach on his staff as being an indispensable part of his team. “There are a lot of jobs open out there. Chris Jent, my associate head coach, I’m surprised has not gotten an interview,” Brown said after Game 5, per Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype (Twitter video link). “He won the Summer League Championship this past summer, he’s our offensive coordinator, associate head coach. He’s been around for a long time. Someone needs to give him an interview because he will help your team win at the highest level.”
• The longest-tenured Knick made perhaps the biggest play of his career in fitting fashion at the end of Game 5, Zach Braziller writes for the Post. Mitchell Robinson, playing 20 minutes while Towns dealt with foul trouble, grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw with 22 seconds to go and kicked it out to OG Anunoby, who hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game. It was the exact type of play that made him such a critical part of the Knicks’ identity throughout the season. Robinson grinded out extra possessions and found teammates on kick-outs, supercharging the team’s offense when it started to bog down. Robinson is the only player left from his 17-win rookie season, and despite playing with a broken hand, he came up clutch when it mattered the most, battling Victor Wembanyama for rebounds and hauling in the biggest one of the night. He responded to the accomplishment in his typical, lighthearted fashion. “Yesterday, at the hotel, I caught a snake. Again,” he said. “You know I caught a snake in the beginning of the playoffs when we played Atlanta. We won, and I caught one last night and we won today. I think it’s something about snakes.”