One of Leon Rose’s most riskiest decisions over the past few years was parting ways with head coach Tom Thibodeau following the 2025 postseason.

Thibodeau was coming off a Eastern Conference Finals appearance and led the Knicks to the playoffs in four of his five years at the helm, but the front office elected to make a change.

After a long search that saw the team conduct formal interviews with more than 10 candidates, Rose ultimately landed on Mike Brown as the new man for the job.

Brown was able to rally his team through up-and-down stretches throughout the course of the regular season to pull out a whopping 53 wins.  

They then cruised their way through an incredible postseason run, before completing the goal with an NBA Finals clinching-victory on Saturday night. 

It was Brown’s first title as a head coach in his 25-year coaching career.

“It’s just a heck of a win,” he said afterwards. “To have these fans that we have in New York City, and to bring home a championship to them after all of these years, it's just an absolutely amazing.

“It’s surreal -- I don’t know how long it’s been since that final buzzer, but I still don’t believe it. I’m pinching myself, I’m telling myself to try to be present, and all of the stuff I tell my guys every day because I still just can’t believe it.”

Brown went on to shoutout his staff by name, and gave credit to each of the players and the Knicks' front office for all coming together to achieve the ultimate goal.

“My staff, they carried me all year,” he said. “Our players are fantastic -- they’ve been ready from Day 1, and it's not just our top-five, but 1 through 18 they have been ready from Day 1 of the season.

“You saw it we called on different guys at different times and every time they stepped up -- I love my players, I love the organization, but most importantly Let’s Go New York, we can’t wait to get home and celebrate.”