The New York Knicks are projected to be the Top 2 teams to come out of the Eastern Conference. This is huge considering that this will also be their first season with veteran head coach Mike Brown.
The two-time NBA Coach of the Year has been laying down the foundation of the team’s offensive and defensive scheme but there’s one thing he might need to work on, his ability to discipline his players and insist who’s on the man in charge. This is what his former player thinks he is lacking and the reason why he hasn’t won an NBA title.
Matt Barnes, who played for Brown through the Los Angeles Lakers, boldly claimed that the new Knicks coach is soft when it comes to controlling his players’ attitude. He even used the late Kobe Bryant as an example.
“Mike Brown to the Knicks will it work?…F*ck no… Mike’s a great person, to me he’s not a leader of men,” Barnes said during an appearance at the Straight Game Podcast.
“He was my coach with the Lakers..Kobe & Ron Artest used to walk all over that…Sacramento…lost respect of the team quickly…Too nice for his own good.”
Matt Barnes: “Mike Brown to the Knicks will it work?…F*ck no… Mike’s a great person, to me he’s not a leader of men…He was my coach w the Lakers..Kobe & Ron Artest used to walk all over that motherf*cker…Sacramento…lost respect of the team quickly…Too nice for his own good” pic.twitter.com/5GN7SJFDtx
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) October 19, 2025
Mike Brown fits an assistant role more
Brown has four championships as an assistant, all of them with the Golden State Warriors as second deputy for Steve Kerr.
Barnes believes that’s what he is great at and should go back to being an assistant instead.
“I think he learned a lot in Golden State underneath Steve Kerr,” he continued.
“I think Mike Brown is a great second chair, cause when you sit on that second chair, I tell you there is such a night and day difference sitting in the head coaching chair.”
This a preposterous claim from the 14-year veteran as Brown has the resumè to claim that he can transform a team. He won the 2023 Coach of the Year when he helmed the Sacramento Kings to a playoff appearance in 2023, the first since 2006.
The interesting part here is that the Kings were not made to contend. What if they were built to win a title? That’s what Brown got with the Knicks which made the Eastern Conference Finals last season. With Jalen Brunson continuously improving and Karl Anthony-Towns still dominant, and the East for anybody’s taking, he might have the perfect recipe to breakthrough.
For the latest Basketball Content
Make sure you are always updated on your favorite basketball players and teams. Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for the latest and trending news about NBA, college basketball, and more. Stay updated by reading more of our NBA articles by clicking here and college basketball by clicking here!
