DALLAS — What does Klay Thompson remember first about Mike Brown?
“His incredible Harley-Davidson collection,” Thompson said with a smile in an interview with The Post before the Knicks managed to pull off a 113-111 win over the Mavericks.
Indeed, Brown owns Harleys, but he also left a strong coaching impression on Thompson before and during their years together with the Warriors.
It was a run that produced three championships, with Thompson, who earned four rings with Golden State, as the star guard and Brown as the lead assistant under Steve Kerr.
“And on top of [the motorcycles] is attention to detail,” said Thompson, who scored 13 points in Dallas’ loss. “No stone is unturned with Mike B.,” Thompson said. “And then just his longevity. It was incredible. I was watching him when I was in high school.”
Brown started as a video coordinator in the early 90s with the Nuggets, then toured the NBA with several stops as either an assistant or head coach.
Still, Thompson didn’t forget the Nuggets portion of Brown’s career.
Before the Warriors played Denver, Thompson would try to motivate Brown by reminding him, “They didn’t want to keep you.”
“A little ploy to get the best out of your co-workers,” Thompson said Thursday.
Brown left the Warriors in 2022. Then Thompson left in 2024 to join the Mavericks in free agency.
They faced each other Wednesday for the first time since Brown became the head coach of the Knicks.
“I was excited for him [being hired by New York]. I know how much he cares about the game. He’s a player’s coach,” Thompson said. “And he started at an entry level, a video coordinating job. All the way to head coaching for many franchises. So his story is that of perseverance and commitment that’s second to none in the coaching world
“He’ll do great. … Tough act to follow with [Tom Thibodeau] but he’ll do a great job.”
Mitchell Robinson said he’s adopted a big-picture outlook on his reduced minutes when asked if it’s mentally tough.
“It was at first, but after thinking about it a lot, obviously I don’t want to miss the playoffs or later on in the future,” Robinson said who scored just three points but pulled down eight boards Wednesday night. “Whatever’s best, just going to stick to it.”
Robinson has been operating on a minutes restriction since missing the opening four games of the season for what the Knicks called “load management.” He has often only played three or four minutes at a time and hadn’t eclipsed 20 minutes in any game heading into Wednesday.
Still, Brown said Robinson’s minutes restriction had eased and he was eligible to play as many as 27 minutes in Monday’s loss to the Heat.
Robinson started at center but only logged 18 minutes.
“I feel like I adjusted pretty well, getting out there playing hard for my little short minutes bursts, whatever,” Robinson said. “Just taking it all in.”
The purpose of Robinson’s minutes restriction is to maintain his health for the playoffs after two ankle surgeries in the past two years. Asked what the medical staff has relayed to him about his minutes limit, Robinson again pleaded ignorance.
“Doing what [Brown] asks, bro,” he said. “Doing what he asks.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
