Mike Brown will be the man behind the clipboard for the New York Knicks in the 2025-26 NBA season.
After firing Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks have decided to hire Mike Brown to fill the vacant head coaching position.
Ahead of his first season as the Knicks’ head coach, there are already many predictions about his tenure. Former NBA player Matt Barnes recently dropped his two cents on the same thing.
Over the years, Brown has enjoyed some great stints, but if there’s one place he clearly didn’t fit in, it was with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shams Charania even predicted Brown’s downfall when the Lakers named him head coach. Fast forward to 2025, and the Knicks hired Brown, which Barnes predicts will be a huge flop.
“Will it work? I was saying f___ no with one hand. Mike’s a great guy. To me, he’s just not a leading man. I can’t imagine it now, because these kids are making so much money. You’ve got to earn their respect.
“I think Mike’s a really nice guy. That’s what Mike’s about. Mike wants to be cool with everyone, not get down on his feet and be like, ‘This is my team, this is what’s going on,'” Burns said.
Burns then revealed that Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest walked “all over” Coach Brown during their time in Los Angeles.
“He was my coach with the Lakers. He picked up Mike after Phil Jackson retired. And when I said rest in peace to the dogs Kobe and Ron Artest, they walked over their mother.
“They were subbing me in and out of the game, and I was just like, ‘Oh, shit,'” Barnes added.
After a terrible time with the Lakers, Brown spent six seasons with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach under Steve Kerr.
Speaking of which, Burns claimed that Brown is a good assistant coach but too nice to be a head coach.
“I think he learned a lot under Steve Kerr at Golden State. I think Mike Brown is a great second chair,” Barnes continued.
“Because it’s a night and day difference when you’re in the head coaching chair, when you’re sitting in the second chair and this is the first chair. I think Mike is a great assistant coach,” he concluded.
“I wish him the best of luck, but I saw it firsthand in Sacramento.”
Barnes explained how Brown lost the respect of the Sacramento Kings players despite ending their playoff drought.
The former NBA player believes that a market “trying to eat up” like New York is not the right fit for Brown. Will Barnes’ prediction come true, or will Brown prove his prediction wrong? Only time will tell.