Mike Brown looks to be content in his new role with the New York Knicks, but dropped honesty about the Kings.
Mike Brown established himself as the last head coach to end the Sacramento Kings' long playoff drought. Yet still got axed from his head coaching position.
Brown since landed with the Eastern Conference contender New York Knicks -- a franchise fresh off returning to the conference finals last season.
Brown is here to catapult the Knicks to heights that Tom Thibodeau never got a chance to hit -- despite "Thibs" ending the Knicks' long ECF dry spell (last appearance was in 2000). But is Brown expressing ill will toward his last NBA employer?
The topic of the Kings rose during Brown's press conference ahead of facing the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup championship. Brown dropped some honesty about the Kings -- in a positive tone.
"I wanna thank the Kings…[owner] Vivek [Ranadive] gave me an opportunity to coach this team. I'll always be grateful for anybody who gave me an opportunity and that was no different," Brown explained.
Brown then revealed what he and his family really think of the city and the fanbase.
"We enjoyed Sacramento, we thank the fans and they were fabulous," he said. "Change happens…feel blessed to be in this situation with Knicks."
He also explained the true nature of what he's walked into in his NBA run.
"You don't have a lot of control over your destiny or your path. To be able to land with an organization like this, you take advantage of it," Brown said.
He then became blunt about looking back at his Kings run.
"I don't have a lot of time to reflect on the past," Brown politely said. "I'm about being present and trying to figure out how we go as an organization."
Granted, his next game features players he's familiar with on the Spurs: De'Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes. The former has become vocal himself about his Kings past.
Fox told NBA insider Marc J. Spears he's smiling more since his departure from the Kings. He also adds Keegan Murray is the only current Kings player he's talked to while also sharing he didn't think Sacramento did a great job capitalizing on its last playoff run.
Back to Brown, he called his former players Barnes and Fox "tremendous human beings" he got the chance to coach. Tuesday's battle pits aspiring NBA Finals contenders who share identical 18-7 records -- plus are top five teams in their respective conferences.