Mike Brown Warns Knicks Bench Players After Practice Lapses

New York Knicks coach Mike Brown issued a stern warning to his bench players and those competing for the final roster spot, emphasizing the need for consistent intensity and competition during practices. Brown directly addressed the team, differentiating between the guaranteed rotation players and those fighting for playing time.

"I specifically went down the line talking about Jalen [Brunson], Mikal [Bridges], OG [Anunoby], KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns] and Josh [Hart]," Brown stated after practice. "I said, ‘Those five, they gonna play. If they do something wrong, I’m gonna get on them and we’re gonna figure it out, but they still gonna play.’ I said, ‘Everybody else in this gym, you fighting. You fighting either to make the team or you fighting for minutes.’"

Brown underscored that this is a new season and a new team, irrespective of past successes. He stressed that complacency after winning a championship is not an option. "This has nothing to do with last year’s team. Those five guys are the same. But everybody — this is a new year, a new team. We gotta look forward. Every day, it’s a competition," he added.

He noted that the practice session was not up to standard, warning that subpar performance would not be in the players' favor. "We weren’t practicing well, and I said, ‘We gonna practice like that, you gonna see at the end of the day, it’s not gonna be in your favor. We should be pushing each other to get better while competing for minutes and or to make the team.’"

This follows a previous critique of the team's physicality in their preseason opener, a 120-97 loss to the 76ers. Brown appears determined to address any dip in intensity early on.

Jordan Clarkson, who is competing for minutes, acknowledged the team's need to elevate their performance. "I think throughout the year, we’re gonna have our ups and downs," Clarkson said. "The first week, second week of training camp, we’ll have days like that, but we just don’t want to get complacent at all. If we continue to try to win every single day, we try to compete every single day — for us [during] training camp, we just wanna pick up the level and be ready for the home opener in two weeks and get it rolling for the regular season."

Clarkson added, "We just wanted to pick the energy up, keep continuing to play at a high level and pick the physicality up. I think that was a big thing that he said from last game."

Mikal Bridges supported Brown's approach, viewing it as a sign of strong coaching that holds the team accountable. "I think that’s what makes coach a great coach, just holding us accountable," Bridges commented. "It can be human nature to relax a little bit — on both sides, anybody that works in the building, as a player, as a coach, as a fan, you can relax after having a lot of success. Those lapses where we might get a little human nature in us, where we play a game and have a little day in between and we’re kind of maybe sometimes going through the motions, it was great for coach to do that to us because the thing about us, we’re all competitors and we all want to win. So as soon as coach says something like that, none of us are going to back down and be like, ‘Whatever.’ We’re gonna pick it up and keep fighting and get better. So, very appreciative."