‘Whatever it takes:’ Knicks know expectations are higher than ever, bu

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — When they fired Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks made their expectations abundantly clear. Even if you just produced the franchise’s most successful season in 25 years, and even if you’ve got the support of the prince of the city, just getting close to playing for an NBA championship is no longer enough.

The coach they hired to pick up where Thibodeau left off, then, understands his assignment.

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“Shoot, I don’t know if anybody has any higher expectations than me,” newly minted head coach Mike Brown told reporters Tuesday at the Knicks’ practice facility, where the team is set to open training camp ahead of a preseason trip to Abu Dhabi. “I love being in a position where you feel expectations. To me, that means there’s something of importance that you’re doing. […] We know what our job is at hand. It starts tomorrow, and it’s one step at a time. It’s every day, every practice, every shootaround. It’s in front of us. We have to attack it with abandon. And if we do, and we embrace what our roles are, we embrace the culture that we’re trying to build here, then good things are gonna happen.”

[Knicks’ Jalen Brunson reflects on Tom Thibodeau’s firing: ‘He’s meant a lot to me’]

Some good things have already happened for New York entering the 2025-26 NBA season — a campaign that will see the Pacers, Celtics and Bucks all regrouping after devastating injuries and roster re-shuffling, creating a power vacuum atop the conference the powers that be at MSG expect the Knicks to fill.

Swingman Mikal Bridges signed a four-year extension worth $150 million — slightly less than the maximum amount he could’ve commanded — allowing team president Leon Rose and his front office to continue to operate beneath the second apron (for now) as they worked to build out a…