According to a report Wednesday from ESPN’s Shams Charania, the New York Knicks are hiring Mike Brown to replace Tom Thibodeau as their next head coach.

Thibodeau was fired on June 3 despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals. It was the franchise’s deepest playoff run in 25 years.

New York will be the fifth team the 55-year-old Brown has coaches after previous stints with Cleveland (2005-10), the Los Angeles Lakers (2011-12), Cleveland (again, 2013-14) and Sacramento (2022-25). He was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2023.

As an assistant in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich and in Golden State working for Steve Kerr, Brown was a part of four NBA championship teams.

Brown led Sacramento to its first postseason appearance in 16 seasons in 2023 when the Kings had the NBA’s top-rated offense. Nevertheless, he was fired after a 13-18 start this past year.

The Knicks were denied the opportunity to interview several elite head coaches by other franchises. They did conduct interviews with ex-Memphis HC Taylor Jenkins, New Orleans assistant James Borrego and Minnesota assistant Micah Nori.

Brown has a career record of 454-304 (59.9%). He has taken seven teams to the playoffs, losing in the 2007 NBA Finals when he was with the Cavs.

FanDuel has the Knicks with +800 odds to win the 2026 NBA Finals. They share the second-shortest odds on the board with Cleveland. Oklahoma City is the +250 ‘chalk’ to repeat as NBA champions.

New York has +280 odds to win the 2026 Eastern Conference finals, as the Cavs are +280 ‘chalk.’

FanDuel has New York star guard Jalen Brunson with 30/1 odds to win NBA MVP honors.