Michael Burton Brown (born March 5, 1970) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was previously the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Los Angeles Lakers, as well as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. Brown also served as the head coach of the Nigeria men's national team from 2020 until 2022, coaching the team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Brown began coaching the Cavaliers in 2005. The team reached the 2007 NBA Finals, where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Brown was honored as NBA Coach of the Year for leading the Cavaliers to a team-record and league-best 66 wins in 2009. The following year, they won 61 games, again a league-best. However, after losing to the Boston Celtics in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals, Brown was fired. He succeeded Phil Jackson as the head coach of the Lakers in 2011 before being dismissed five games into the 2012–13 season. Brown returned to the Cavaliers in 2013, but was fired after one season. He then joined the Warriors as associate head coach in 2016; the team went on to defeat the Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018, and the Boston Celtics in 2022 for the NBA championship.
Brown departed from the Warriors in 2022 to become the head coach of the Kings. In his first year as head coach, Brown led the Kings to their first playoff appearance in 17 years, snapping the longest playoff drought in NBA history. For his efforts, Brown became the first-ever unanimous NBA Coach of the Year award winner and was named to the NBCA Coach of the Year award in 2023. After a 13–18 start to the 2024–25 season, Brown was dismissed by the Kings. The following year, he became the head coach of the Knicks and led the team to their first championship in 53 years.
Brown was born on March 5, 1970, in Columbus, Ohio, to a father who served in the US Air Force. He moved with his family to military bases, where his father was stationed and spent time in the United States, Japan, and Germany during his childhood. Brown graduated in 1988 from Würzburg American High School in Würzburg, Germany.
After studying and playing basketball for two years at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona, Brown attended the University of San Diego (USD), where he played two seasons of college basketball for the San Diego Toreros. As a 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m) guard, he had career averages of 8.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 57 games under coach Hank Egan. He graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
Brown's first basketball job was as a video coordinator for the Denver Nuggets. He met his wife, Carolyn, a native of Colorado, at a bar in Denver.
Washington Wizards (1997–1999)
In 1997, Brown moved to Washington for two seasons, working as an assistant coach under fellow USD alumnus Bernie Bickerstaff.
In 2000, Brown was hired by Gregg Popovich as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, whose staff included his former college coach, Egan. Brown was also the head coach for the Spurs' summer league teams in Boston and Salt Lake City. The Spurs won an NBA championship in 2003 while Brown was on their coaching staff.
In 2003, Brown was hired as associate head coach under Rick Carlisle with the Indiana Pacers. He helped lead Indiana to consecutive playoff appearances, including a trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 2004. Brown followed Ron Artest into the stands and was instrumental in getting him back to the locker room during the massive brawl between the Pacers, Detroit Pistons, and Pistons fans at the Palace at Auburn Hills on November 19, 2004. Brown remained with the Pacers for two seasons.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2005–2010)
In June 2005, Brown replaced Brendan Malone as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was his first NBA head coaching position. Brown became the second-youngest coach in the league (trailing only Lawrence Frank). When he arrived in Cleveland, the Cavaliers had missed the playoffs in emerging superstar LeBron James's first two NBA seasons and had not made the playoffs since 1998. Under Brown, the team won 50 games, made the 2005–06 playoffs, and won their first-round series.
On June 2, 2007, the Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. However, they were swept in four games by his former team, the San Antonio Spurs.
On February 1, 2008, Brown was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January 2008. In 2009, Brown was named coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. On April 20, 2009, Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year after guiding the Cavaliers to a league-high and franchise-best 66–16 record.
Following a loss to the Indiana Pacers on February 10, 2009, Brown was fined $25,000 by the NBA for publicly criticizing referee Joey Crawford and the officiating after a controversial foul call in the game's final seconds.
The Cavaliers won a league-high 61 games in the 2009–10 season. However, the team was eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals on May 13, 2010. With this loss, the Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to win 60 games in back-to-back seasons without advancing to the NBA Finals.
Brown was fired on May 24, 2010 hours before his $4.5 m contract for the following year would have kicked in. It was widely thought that team owner Dan Gilbert made the move in order to increase the chances of luring LeBron James back to Cleveland. Various Cavaliers players as well as multiple rival league coaches criticized the move, praising Brown as a top head coach. Under Brown's leadership, the Cavaliers made it past the first round of the NBA playoffs for five consecutive seasons.
Los Angeles Lakers (2011–2012)