NEW YORK — Normally it’s painful to admit you were wrong, but I am practically giddy with joy as I admit that I was wrong — oh, so wrong! — to protest the firing of Tom Thibodeau as coach of the New York Knicks slightly more than a year ago.

I thought it was unfair to fire “Thibs” after he had transformed the Knicks from doormats into respectable playoff contenders. Knicks owner James Dolan and team president Leon Rose thought differently, and they obviously knew better.

They calculated that Thibs, a notoriously demanding taskmaster, had exhausted the team and taken it as far as they could go under his leadership. So they got rid of him and, after exploring various options, hired Mike Brown, a veteran coach with a decidedly mixed record.

Hiring Brown turned out to be an inspired move. With his more consensual leadership style and his greater willingness to utilize the bench, Brown engineered a dominant playoff performance; the Knicks finished third in the Eastern Conference and yet lost just three games during the 2026 postseason. That magical run culminated on Saturday night with the Knicks winning their first championship since 1973 by defeating the San Antonio Spurs, 4 games to 1.

A sign of Brown’s brilliance: The Knicks finished their epic 29-point comeback in Game 4 of the finals on Wednesday with a backcourt........

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