Titles Give Mike Brown and Joe Torre Rare Feat

Mike Brown and Joe Torre are similar in some regards as they replaced predecessors who restored a winning culture to the Knicks and Yankees in Tom Thibodeau and Buck Showalter respectively.

Brown and Torre became even more similar Saturday night when the Knicks clinched their first NBA title since 1973 with a 94-90 victory at San Antonio, thanks to a virtuoso 45-point performance by Jalen Brunson, who is now as iconic as Derek Jeter was to the Yankees.

The title was won with several comebacks that would have made the 1996 Yankees proud. It even had some familiar characteristics with the Knicks taking small bites of big deficits before willing their way to victory in a five-game series where they trailed for a combined 166 minutes, 45 seconds and led for a combined 53 minutes, 66 seconds, a mark that seems similar to the 1996 Fall Classic when the Yankees held a lead for 23 of the 55 innings.

The backgrounds of Mike Brown and Joe Torre

Both turned 56 during their title seasons as Brown celebrated his latest birthday March 5 in between a 103-100 home loss to Oklahoma City and a 142-point showing in a rout at Denver while Torre's birthday during the 1996 title season occurred July 18, 1996, in a 16-4 loss at Milwaukee nobody remembers because of what unfolded three months later.

The closer similarities is some of their previous experience running teams.

Brown was hired on July 7, a little over a month after the Knicks decided to part ways with Tom Thibodeau, who led the team to four playoff appearances in five seasons. Thibodeau did so after the Knicks failed to make the postseason in seven straight seasons and in 15 of 19 seasons under 12 different coaches. (Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkens, Herb Williams, Larry Brown, Isiah Thomas, Mike D'Antoni, Mike Woodson, Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis, Jeff Hornacek, David Fizdale, Mike Miller).

Torre was hired shortly after Buck Showalter rejected a new contract when the Yankees wanted to shuffle his coaching staff following the 1995 season. Showalter's coaching staff was being considered for changes despite the Yankees getting to the playoffs for the first time since 1981 and producing three straight winning seasons following a stretch where Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin (twice), Lou Piniella (twice), Dallas Green, Bucky Dent and Stump Merrill managed.

Brown joined the Knicks after running the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-2010 then again in 2013-2014, the Los Angeles Lakers from 2011-12 and the Sacramento Kings from 2022-23 to 31 games into the 2024-25 season. He reached the finals once with the Cavaliers when they were swept by the Spurs in 2007 during LeBron James' fourth season.

In a key difference from Torre, Brown won a ring as an assistant for the 2003 Spurs and three more in six seasons with the Warriors from 2017 through 2022.

Torre joined the Yankees after running the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals.

While Brown was well over .500 in his previous stops, Torre was not. He took the Yankee job after going a combined 103 games under .500 with the Mets and Braves and Cardinals while making one playoff appearance in 1982.

The similar reactions to hiring Mike Brown and Joe Torre

When Thibodeau and Showalter left the Knicks and the Yankees, the reaction from many fans was disappointment rather than excitement.

And the results of the search for their replacements were similar.

Brown was hired about a month after Thibodeau was let go, following exit interviews expressing concern about his rigid ways and lack of flexibility with lineups. Brown was also hired after the Knicks were denied permission to speak with five NBA coaches and also spoke with Taylor Jenkins, James Borrego, and Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori.

When ESPN Insider Shams Charania tweeted that Brown was being hired, some responses expressed skepticism. One response read "Fired Thibs for Mike Brown LMAO". Another read "Not bad but is he really a better coach than Thibs?

The Yankees hired Torre on Nov. 2, 1995, about a decade before any form of social media existed. Back then, a tabloid backpage often did the talking for fans, and the most notable reaction occurred in the Daily News, which blared "Clueless Joe".

Without having access to tapes from WFAN from the same day as the Knicks opened the 1995-96 season and the ill-fated coaching tenure of Don Nelson, it is probably safe to say a majority of phone calls might have agreed with the Daily News.

The implication was that Torre would have no idea how to handle the impulsiveness of George Steinbrenner, who was three seasons into his second act after being suspended in 1990.

Ultimately, Torre handled Steinbrenner for most of his tenure until it ended in 2007 with an aging team and little pitching depth.

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Titles Change Perception of Jim Dolan and George Steinbrenner

It was not long ago when Dolan was being urged to "sell the team," and he acknowledged his many missteps when he took the podium and said something along the lines of "sorry it took so long".

Those protests were done during the Isiah Thomas years from Dec. 2003-April 2008 and then in the seven non-playoff seasons preceding this group.

Dolan's favorability may never reach the heights of other owners, but a title changes the perception of reign and erases the years of dysfunction and failed saviors.

Torre led the Yankees to their first title since 1978 and did so after losing the first two games by a combined 16-1 margin. Given how many titles the Yankees have won in their history, an 18-year gap between titles might as well have been similar to the 53-year drought the Knicks ended.

The title was won a little over six years after fans wildly applauded the news of Steinbrenner's ban in a half-empty stadium during a game against the Tigers. After the Yankees beat the Braves to win the World Series and won three more in the next four seasons, all was seemingly forgiven with Steinbrenner, who was now becoming more well known for how Larry David portrayed his mannerisms in numerous Seinfeld episodes and less known for popping off to the media.

Related: Three Reasons Why Knicks-Spurs Could Still Be An NBA Finals Classic

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 10:03 AM.