TITLE: Dolan says Knicks targeted NBA Finals from the moment coaching change was made
SLUG: knicks-owner-james-dolan-finals-expectation
CONTENT:
New York Knicks owner James Dolan said reaching the NBA Finals was the franchise’s objective from the instant it replaced head coach Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown.
In a rare interview with the New York Post conducted before the championship series, Dolan told columnist Steve Serby that everyone inside Madison Square Garden expected a Finals berth once the organization shifted direction after last season’s trip to the Eastern Conference finals.
“We all knew it,” Dolan said, recalling the January comment in which he publicly predicted a Finals appearance. “You don’t make a change unless you’re expecting to do better.”
Team president Leon Rose led the search that ended with Brown, whom Dolan described as collaborative and adaptable. Thibodeau had produced New York’s deepest playoff run in 25 years, yet Rose convinced ownership that Brown was the better fit for the next step.
Dolan also reviewed the roster decisions that followed. Losing center Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, he said, pushed the Knicks toward the trade that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to Manhattan. The club later sent five first-round draft picks for forward Mikal Bridges, a move Dolan called thoughtful but essential to building a long-term core.
With those pieces in place, New York enters the Finals four victories from its first championship since 1973—exactly where ownership believed it would be.
Source: Hoops Wire
