Jalen Brunson ascended into stardom under the guidance of Tom Thibodeau, now with Mike Brown taking over as head coach of the New York Knicks, their superstar is going to need to adjust accordingly.
In three seasons with Thibodeau, Brunson averaged 26.4 points per game, and was named an All-Star, and All-NBA in each of the last two seasons. In the past, Brunson has attributed his success to Thibodeau.
After the Knicks bowed out in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, Thibodeau was fired, and later replaced by Mike Brown, who is now taking over a team that has championship aspirations in 2026.
Ahead of this season, Brunson was recently asked how long it might take him to get comfortable with a new head coach leading the way.
“I don't know how long it's going to take me, but hopefully relatively fast. I'll continue to get better off of it,” Brunson said. “Even with Thibs the past couple years, we were still learning how to do certain things, getting better at certain things. I don't want to say I'm going to 'master' it at any point, I'm just going to continue getting better and better and be more fluent at it. It's going to be a process, for sure.”
Brunson and Brown will now try to get as much on the same page as they possibly can before the season starts. The Knicks enter this season amongst the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference after coming up just short of a finals appearance last season.