NBA FINALS: KNICKS VS. SPURS

June 8, 2026

Mike Brown

New York Knicks

Game 3: Pregame

Q. Mike, first of all, what was your commute and/or process getting here like compared to most days because of the security around the President? And then bigger picture, regardless of politics or political affiliation, is it appropriate for the President to come to this game, given that there can't be a watch party and the security concerns for all the fans that paid to get in?

MIKE BROWN: You know, to answer that part first, I'm just locked in, man, on Game 3. A lot of people text me all the time about this and that, and for me, my focus is just what's next and what's in front of me, and Game 3 is front of us right now. I feel our group is that way, too.

Coming here, you know, I stayed downtown because we were practicing here. So I stayed downtown at the team hotel. I've never done that on a game before. But it's easier because we're practicing here, and so staying downtown and coming from our hotel to here was a shorter drive or a shorter commute than what I'm used to coming from Westchester County.

Q. The core of this team has been together for several years, and Mikal and Jalen and Josh have known each other for so long, even predating their time together. The last few champions have also had continuity together. Do you think it's now even more important to have time together and it's harder to kind of microwave a champion together than it has been in previous years because of so many issues, not least of all just the complexity of the sport over the last few years, too?

MIKE BROWN: You know, the longer you can keep a group together, I think that's better. And it's kind of always been that to a certain degree. You know, way, way back, the Lakers, they had Karl Malone, I think Gary Payton and a couple other superstars that they threw together one year, and it was hard. Not to say that it can't be done. I'm sure it's been done. But the longer the group can stay together, I feel the better chance they have.

Q. What lessons do you take from the previous championships that you've been in as an assistant, as a head coach, when you were at Golden State, you actually had a 2-0 lead on your way to a sweep. What are some lessons that you take from that that you've shared with the team?

MIKE BROWN: You don't take anything for granted. It's about the next game, no matter what. You know that your opponent, the level of desperation is going to be heightened, which means their physicality, how hard they play, is going to be heightened.

And you know, you have to try to match it or exceed it. If you don't, it could be tough. That's why these things are a seven-game series.

And the last thing is, they are going to go on runs. We're going to go on runs. Just keep thinking about the next play. Think about the next play. Think about the next play. And worry about the process and not the outcome more than anything else.

Q. You talked about Josh as being an X factor. I just wanted to know if you could describe what he brought to the first two games without doing much scoring and if you expect some offensive outbursts in this series from him, like he had during the Eastern Conference Finals.

MIKE BROWN: Josh is more than capable. He's a great shooter. He works on it all the time. You know, we want him to let it fly but he does stuff for us offensively that doesn't necessarily show up in the stat sheet. He helps with our pace when he gets the ball off the glass or when he receives the outlet, he pushes the ball like no other, and he does a great job finishing at the rim or spraying it. So we need him continuing to do that.

And then his screening, his cutting, his rebounding, all those things impact the game at a really high level, and regardless if he's scoring or not, you know, having a guy like him on the floor connects everybody, and you always need that X factor in that area.

Q. Wembanyama finished the game well the other night, bad first half, good second half. A guy that unique, how do you gauge whether you did a good job or not and what you have to fix with some of the stuff he does?

MIKE BROWN: You don't, really. You hope you can make him work at the end of the day and you hope he misses some shots.

And then if you get a win, then you say thank goodness we were able to get out of there with a win because he's that impactful.

I think it's a pretty simple formula. You're not blocking his shots. You're not getting him off his spots. You're not doing these things to him. You have to make him work on both ends of the floor, and hope and pray that he misses some shots and we're able to box him out and get out and run.

Q. A lot of players in your locker room say one of the things you've harped on at the beginning of the year is minimizing outside noise and keeping outside noise as minimal as possible. Why was that so important for you coming into the season and do you think that approach has served your team well so far?

MIKE BROWN: It was something -- the term is a bunker mentality. It was actually something that I learned from Pop back in the early 2000s. When you get to this level or you're playing in a bigger market, especially, there's going to be a lot of noise.

You're going to hit some adversity throughout the course of the season, and this is what I talked about when I said, you know, you hoped you hit adversity because you want to see how everybody reacts, not just the players. I want to see how Mr. Dolan was going to react. I want to see how Leon Rose is going to react, their group, on top of the players.

Because one of them, all of them, can get pissed at me and say, screw this, we're done. Or you could try to keep fighting, stay even keeled and try to figure it out.

And that will only help you the further along you get in the playoffs. You know, right now, the amount of media and noise that's outside is something that the guys -- most guys haven't seen. And so trying to continue to ignore it; they are human, so they are going to hear some of it, and going to try to continue to ignore it by telling them or constantly reminding them about it is huge, so that they don't get distracted from the task at hand, which is the next game or the next possession.

Q. Jalen is obviously the king of New York but throughout the regular season, do you think he got the national attention that he deserved, and how much does this Finals run and this playoff run that you guys have been having do to cement his name as a household name?

MIKE BROWN: No, he definitely has not -- or did not get the attention that he deserved during the regular season. You know, again, I think he's a Top 3 MVP candidate, and when it comes down to those things, his name wasn't mentioned much.

Now, you know, playing in the Finals, leading your team to first place in the regular season in either conference, that gives you more recognition, and so something like this should definitely help. Well, help everybody wake up a little bit and understand what type of player he is, just as importantly, what type of person he is. At the end of the day, hopefully starting with him, his name is a household name as well as KAT, OG, Mikal, Josh, on down the line.