By Ian O’Connor | The Athletic, 2026-06-03 09:45:54
The Athletic 将为您带来尼克斯对阵马刺 在 2026年NBA总决赛 第一场对决的实时报道。
在纽约尼克斯决定在迈克·布朗 (Mike Brown) 身上赌一把的近四十年前，汤姆·贝内特 (Tom Bennett) 是全美第一个做出同样决定的人。这位梅萨社区学院 (Mesa Community College) 的教练，向当时在德国籍籍无名、身为美国空军军人子弟的高中生布朗提供了一个加入球队的名额。
布朗接受了邀请，并在日后将贝内特视为帮助他“成熟并蜕变为一个男人”的恩师。多年来，他们一直保持着密切的联系，贝内特关注着这位昔日弟子的一举一动，直到去年夏天尼克斯向布朗抛出橄榄枝。
“当迈克刚拿到这份工作时，我很担心他在纽约的处境，”贝内特回忆道，“因为，我不知道该怎么说，但迈克真的是个非常友善的人，待人极好。而我觉得，纽约人有时给人的印象是对别人非常苛刻。”
“所以，在那种环境下，我很为他担心。但事实证明，情况完全不同。”
用“完全不同”来形容，简直是2026年NBA总决赛开始前最保守的说法了。本周三晚，布朗执教的尼克斯将在圣安东尼奥客场挑战马刺，拉开总决赛的帷幕。
贝内特绝非唯一一个担心布朗——这个出了名的“老好人”——会被这座大都市生吞活剥的篮球圈内人。
在《Straight Game》播客节目中，曾在布朗执教的湖人队效力过、拥有14年NBA球龄的老将马特·巴恩斯 (Matt Barnes) 称这位教练是“一个极好的人”，但“好得有些过头了”，且“不是一个能统领群雄的领袖”。尽管布朗在常规赛中也有过高光时刻，但他用今年季后赛的表现，彻底粉碎了外界对他的一切质疑和担忧。
事实证明，在尼克斯成长为争冠球队的关键时期，他正是球队在正确时间所需要的那个人。布朗激励着他的弟子们，以创纪录的净胜分优势在季后赛中豪取11连胜。他以一种其功勋卓著的前任汤姆·锡伯杜 (Tom Thibodeau) 无法做到的方式，提升了尼克斯的高度。
布朗的人格魅力、开明的态度以及见多识广的阅历，帮助他接连击败了奎因·斯奈德 (Quin Snyder) 执教的亚特兰大老鹰、尼克·纳斯 (Nick Nurse) 执教的费城76人，以及肯尼·阿特金森 (Kenny Atkinson) 执教的克利夫兰骑士。纽约已经很久很久没有见过新任主帅与成型阵容之间如此完美的契合了。
这也正是为什么对于一支已经53年未曾染指总冠军的球队来说，夺取NBA总冠军感觉就像是一个“机不可失，失不再来”的命题。1994年的尼克斯曾在总决赛中以3-2领先休斯敦火箭，却未能一鼓作气拿下系列赛。五年后，纽约有机会击败当时还未获得任何总冠军戒指、年仅23岁的蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan)，但由于帕特里克·尤因 (Patrick Ewing) 因跟腱撕裂缺阵，拉里·约翰逊 (Larry Johnson) 饱受膝伤困扰，球队最终在大比分1-4败北。而尼克斯足足花了27年的时间，才重新回到如今的高度。
他们比94年和99年的那两支队伍更强，而且他们有机会在22岁的超级巨星维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 赢得任何总冠军戒指之前击败他。更棒的是，纽约的首发五虎——在攻防两端都紧密相连——在每年的这个时候，保持着极为健康的竞技状态。
没错，米切尔·罗宾逊 (Mitchell Robinson) 必须带伤应对他骨折的小拇指，这在试图用足够多且灵活的内线大个子去限制文班时确实是个问题。但想想卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆刚刚经历的遭遇吧，他们在失去了二号球星杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams) 的情况下，最终无缘再次杀入总决赛。
很有可能，如果尼克斯下赛季有幸重返这个舞台，他们届时要面对的伤病影响，恐怕会比罗宾逊的手指骨折要严重得多。
所以，属于他们的时刻到了。这必须是属于他们的时刻。杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 足够优秀，完全可以像斯蒂芬·库里 (Steph Curry) 和伊赛亚·托马斯 (Isiah Thomas) 那样，作为矮个核心导演一出夺冠大戏；而卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 在得分、传球和篮板方面的全能表现，也足以成为他的最佳搭档。
尼克斯在防守端的坚韧以及寻找空位队友的默契配合，让人不禁频频将他们与雷德·霍尔兹曼 (Red Holzman) 执教的那支球队相提并论——正是那支球队在1970年和1973年为尼克斯赢得了队史仅有的两座总冠军奖杯。纽约这座城市已经彻底为这支尼克斯倾倒。
距离属于他们的“卡米洛特”时代仅差四场胜利。
从锡伯杜执教首年季后赛首轮出局，到后来的杀入第二轮、第三轮，再到如今站上第四轮（总决赛）的舞台，纽约在这一路攀升的过程中经历了太多。布伦森已经参加了81场季后赛，其中有56场是代表尼克斯出战。
而文班亚马仅仅打过17场季后赛，所以，不，这并不是那支由格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 执教的马刺。他们在这个舞台上完全是新面孔。39岁的米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 作为马刺主帅前途无量，但对于56岁的迈克·布朗来说，未来就是现在。
作为助理教练，他曾四次随队夺冠，其中就包括在波波维奇执教的马刺队时期；而在他此前的执教生涯中，他也曾带领一支球队（2007年的克利夫兰骑士）杀入过总决赛，结果却被那支同样由波波维奇执教的马刺横扫。
布朗作为主教练执教了超过100场季后赛，胜率接近60%。但他也曾被三家俱乐部先后解雇过四次。
还是那句话，他在NBA见识过了一切——美好的、糟糕的，以及极其丑陋的。但布朗对于纽约而言是完美的选择，纽约对他来说同样也是完美的归宿。
他的篮球之旅始于那片荒漠。当时，曾在亚利桑那州立大学效力、后在德国执教的罗恩·约翰逊 (Ron Johnson) 将布朗推荐给了贝内特。贝内特第一次看这个孩子训练时，注意到他在跳投时会把球拉过头顶，与其说是投篮，不如说是把球扔出去。
“你是认真的吗？”贝内特问他。
“我是认真的，”布朗回答道。
“我们得改改你的投篮动作，”教练告诉他。
“我们什么时候开始？”布朗问道。
每天，他都在球馆里疯狂地挥洒汗水，额外加练300次投篮。一年365天，无论是夏天、春假，还是大学朋友们在外面派对狂欢的夜晚，他从未间断。当布朗因背伤无法上场时，他会在训练时趴着，背上敷着冰袋，专注地观察队友。
“当迈克能站起来参加训练的第一天，他就在指导大家该往哪里跑位、该如何跑战术了，”贝内特说，“他总是热心帮助年轻球员。他的领导力简直不可思议。我认为我们队里从未有过比他更好的领袖。”
他们在梅萨携手取得了30连胜，并被评为全美第一大专球队。之后，布朗升入圣迭戈大学参加NCAA一级联盟比赛，随后在丹佛掘金队担任无薪暑期实习生，开启了他的非球员职业生涯。这是一条多么曲折漫长的道路。
在他此前唯一一次作为主教练的总决赛之旅中，布朗面对马刺毫无胜算，即便当时他拥有勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James)。但这一次，面对马刺，他有了真正的机会。布朗可能再也不会有这样的机会了。他麾下最好的球员布伦森，也可能再也不会有这样的机会了。
“这是千载难逢的机会，”这位队长说道，“（我们）绝不能视之为理所当然。”
万事俱备，只欠东风，一切都在向着有利于尼克斯的方向发展。他们必须抢在马刺之前赢下四场比赛，因为这确实让人感觉是一场“机不可失，失不再来”的终极追逐。
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：For Mike Brown’s Knicks, it may be now or never to win the NBA title
For Mike Brown’s Knicks, it may be now or never to win the NBA title
The Athletic has live coverage of Knicks vs. Spurs in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals.
Nearly four decades before the New York Knicks took a big chance on Mike Brown, Tom Bennett was the first basketball figure in the United States to do the same. The Mesa Community College coach offered the relatively unknown high school player in Germany and son of an Air Force man a spot on his team.
Brown accepted and later credited Bennett as a mentor who “helped me mature into a man.” They remained close over the years, with Bennett tracking every move his former player made right up until the Knicks came calling last summer.
“I was worried about Mike in New York when he first got the job,” Bennett recalled, “because, I don’t know how to say this, but Mike is really a friendly person and he’s good to other people. And I think sometimes the reputation of New Yorkers is they can be really hard on other people.
“So I was concerned about him in that situation. But it’s turned out to be quite different.”
Quite different would be the official understatement of the 2026 NBA Finals, which start Wednesday night for Brown’s Knicks and the Spurs in San Antonio.
Bennett was hardly the only basketball lifer who worried that Brown, a card-carrying Mr. Nice Guy, would get chewed up and spit out by the big city.
On the Straight Game Podcast, Matt Barnes, a 14-year NBA veteran who played on Brown’s Lakers team, called the coach “a great person” who is “too nice for his own good” and “not a leader of men.” Though he had his moments in the regular season, Brown has used these playoffs to obliterate every criticism or concern about him.
He has turned out to be exactly what the Knicks needed at exactly the right time in their development as a championship contender. Brown has inspired his players to win 11 consecutive postseason games by a record-setting margin. He has elevated the Knicks in a way that his accomplished predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, could not.
Brown’s personal touch, open-mindedness and seen-it-all experience helped him lay waste to Quin Snyder’s Atlanta Hawks, Nick Nurse’s Philadelphia 76ers and Kenny Atkinson’s Cleveland Cavaliers. New York has not seen such an ideal match between an incoming coach and an established team in a long, long time.
And that is why the NBA championship feels so much like a now-or-never proposition for a franchise that hasn’t won it in 53 years. The 1994 Knicks had a 3-2 finals lead over the Houston Rockets and couldn’t close it out. Five years later, New York had a chance to beat a 23-year-old Tim Duncan before he had won any of his rings and lost in five games because Patrick Ewing was out with an Achilles tear and Larry Johnson was slowed by a bum knee. It only took the Knicks 27 years to make it back to this point.
They are better than the ’94 and ’99 teams, and they have a chance to beat 22-year-old superstar Victor Wembanyama before he wins any rings. Better yet, New York’s starting five — completely connected on both sides of the ball — is as healthy as a lineup can be this time of year.
Yeah, Mitchell Robinson will have to manage his broken pinkie finger, and that is a problem when trying to throw enough active big bodies at Wemby. But consider what the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder just endured without their second-best player, Jalen Williams, falling short of another trip to the finals.
Chances are, if the Knicks are fortunate enough to return to this stage next season, they will be dealing with an injury more impactful than Robinson’s fractured finger.
So, this is their time. This has to be their time. Jalen Brunson is good enough to join Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas as small lead actors in a winning championship drama, and Karl-Anthony Towns is versatile enough as a scorer, passer and rebounder to be his co-star.
The Knicks are playing defense and hitting the open man with enough regularity to draw all kinds of comparisons to the Red Holzman teams that won the franchise’s only titles in 1970 and ’73. The city has fallen hard for these Knicks.
Camelot is only four victories away.
New York has been through a lot on the climb from first-round playoff dropouts, in Thibodeau’s first year, to second-round, third-round and now fourth-round participants. Brunson has competed in 81 playoff games, 56 of them with the Knicks.
Wembanyama has competed in a mere 17, so no, these aren’t the Gregg Popovich Spurs. They are brand new at this. Mitch Johnson, 39, has a great future ahead of him as their coach, but for Mike Brown, 56, the future is right now.
He has been part of four championship teams as an assistant, including one with Popovich’s Spurs, and he has taken a team in a previous head-coaching life (Cleveland Cavaliers, 2007) to the finals, where he was swept by those same Popovich Spurs.
Brown has been a head coach in more than 100 postseason games, and he has won nearly 60 percent of them. He has also been fired four times by three organizations.
Again, he has seen it all in the NBA — the good, the bad and the very ugly. But Brown has been perfect for New York, and New York has been perfect for him.
His basketball journey started in the desert, after a former Arizona State player named Ron Johnson, a coach in Germany, recommended Brown to Bennett, who watched the kid work out for the first time and noticed that he was pulling the ball over his head on his jumper and throwing it more than shooting it.
“Are you serious about this?” Bennett asked him.
“I’m very serious,” Brown replied.
“We have to change your shot,” the coach told him
“When do we start?” Brown asked.
Dripping sweat like mad, he took an extra 300 shots in the gym every day of the year, including the summer, spring break, and all those nights his college friends were out partying. When Brown was out with a back injury, he lay on his stomach during practice, with ice on his back, and studied his teammates.
“And the first day Mike got up to practice, he was giving people instructions on where to go and how to run things,” Bennett said. “He was always helping the young players. His leadership was unreal. I don’t think we ever had a better leader.”
Together, they won 30 straight games at Mesa and were ranked the No. 1 junior college team in America before Brown moved up to Division I ball at San Diego, and then started his non-playing career as an unpaid summer intern with the Denver Nuggets. What a winding road it has been.
In his only previous trip to the finals as a head coach, Brown had no shot against the Spurs, even with LeBron James. He’s got a real shot against the Spurs this time. Brown might never get another one. His best player, Brunson, might never get another one.
“Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the captain said, “(that) you can’t take for granted.”
It’s all come together for the Knicks. They need to win four games before the Spurs do, because this sure feels like it’s a now-or-never pursuit.
By Ian O’Connor, via The Athletic