[Begley] Knicks players haven’t fully bought into their roles under Mike Brown
How did the Knicks reach this point? How did a team that started the season 23-9 end up here?
In digging around on this, one theme has come up consistently over the past couple of weeks:
This group is not tied together in the way that their early season success would suggest. Players haven’t fully bought into their roles under head coach Mike Brown. Those reasons are cited often when you talk to people about the Knicks’ flaws.
Now, these issues aren’t unique to this year’s team. They existed to a degree in the locker room last season. But the Knicks coaching change hasn’t rooted them out.
The firing of Tom Thibodeau and hiring of Brown was never going to cure all that ailed the Knicks. But the move definitely raised the stakes for New York.
That was made clear earlier this month when owner James Dolan said in a WFAN interview that he expects the Knicks to reach – and win – the NBA Finals.
A few weeks ago, Dolan’s expectations seemed reasonable. The Knicks started the season 23-9; they won the NBA Cup in Las Vegas last month.
But things have fallen apart since then.
New York is 27th in opponent three-point percentage; the club has one of the NBA’s worst defenses over the past four weeks. Karl-Anthony Towns has struggled on both ends of the floor for much of the season.
It’s easy to point the finger at the new head coach. Certainly, Brown and his staff deserve criticism for the club’s freefall.
But what about the front office? Management’s three biggest acquisitions (Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby) haven’t played at a high level with any consistency this season. The 2025 free agent signings (Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson) haven’t provided the depth the Knicks were looking for.
Source: https://sny.tv/articles/knicks-struggles-jalen-brunson-era-begley-2026