Knicks coach Mike Brown: 'I get paid' to deal with pressure
Knicks new head coach Mike Brown at a news conference to announce his new job at the Knicks training facility in Tarrytown on July 8. Credit: Newsday/Kendall Rodriguez
GREENBURGH — Mike Brown has yet to step onto the Madison Square Garden floor while the stands are filled to capacity with fans who are alternately rooting for him and dissecting his every decision, but he arrives in New York with a clear idea of what the expectations are for him and the Knicks as he takes over as head coach.
He’s got a long history of success as a coach in the NBA and also has experienced the downside — taking the blame and getting fired when those expectations aren’t met. But in New York, where the most successful coach in the last quarter-century for the franchise currently is roaming around college practices as he cashes Garden checks, it didn’t even last to the start of camp before Brown began to face the heat.
“I went to Scarsdale High School opening night football game. And watched the first half and then it was halftime,” Brown said. “ . . . I stayed in the stands . . . and there was a mom in there that stayed because she had a seventh-grade son and she recognized me. We started talking about me in Sacramento, and then what happened here, and she was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, how did you do that pressure, your job’s on the line all the time?’
“And I said, ‘You know what? I said, I appreciate you, but I said, it’s part of the reason I get paid what I get paid. I got to deal with it. And it’s public. Well, I’m getting paid by Mr. Dolan to be able to deal with it. And so I said, I appreciate ya, but don’t feel sorry for me, because I’m gonna be OK at the end of the day.’ ”
Brown and the players are still in a honeymoon period, getting to know each other, and they’ve yet to worry about roles or shots. No player has griped about not starting or limited minutes, and it’s been left for others to speculate about Mitchell Robinson’s expiring contract or trade rumors surrounding Deuce McBride. Both spoke Thursday and expressed nothing but optimism about what is in front of them.
“I’m excited to play for him,” Robinson said. “Been here going on eight years now. Third coach. I’m just gonna get in there and give him the same energy I gave all the other coaches. Hard work and keep it moving.”
Still, the 51 regular-season wins and the trip to the Eastern Conference finals, including knocking off the defending champion Boston Celtics, is the measuring stick for this team. But Brown shrugs off the outside noise.
“I like what people may call pressure, because that means there’s importance,” he said. “Not just with you, because everything I do I feel is important, but there’s importance placed upon everything you do, and everybody has expectations because they want to enjoy the moment. And so I said, I embrace that. Because nobody’s expectations are bigger than mine.
“So that’s kind of how I look at it as I get paid to go through certain things, to deal with certain things, to make certain decisions. And my expectations are higher than probably yours, yours and yours, and I embrace whatever comes my way that comes along with being in this spot.
“And if something were to happen, like it happened in Sacramento or Cleveland or whatever, you just learn and you grow. You have to take every single thing you do and try to flip it into a learning experience, to grow a little here, grow a little there. That’s where I feel like I’ve done in every situation.”
Robinson’s contract
Robinson is entering the season on an expiring contract and could become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end if an extension is not agreed upon, but he expressed no issue with that. “I’m gonna come out here and play hard still regardless, whether it’s my last or my first,’’ he said. “Just come out here and play hard. But at the same time, I’m gonna let my agent handle that part of it. I’m just gonna play basketball.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
