GREENBURGH — Mike Brown was ushered into one of the most pressure-packed situations imaginable on Tuesday when he was introduced by the Knicks as their new head coach.

The two-time NBA Coach of the Year is taking over a team that came within two wins of the NBA Finals and essentially returns all the key players. He arrives with expectations that he is the guy who can take them to the next level. And on his first day, he sounded like a person who believes he is the guy to do it.

“There's a lot of work to be done,” Brown said at the team’s training facility. “We have an outstanding roster. What they did in the playoffs shows their potential. I've had great conversations with all of our players and I'm looking forward to growing positive, strong relationships with all of them.”

Brown is counting on the experience he got as Steve Kerr’s associate head coach when Golden State won three NBA championships, as an assistant coach to Greg Popovich on another championship and as head coach of the Cavaliers when they reached the 2007 NBA Finals.

He described the goal that he, ownership and the front office will work toward is “to build a sustainable winning culture that produces championships.”

“I'm fortunate to know what it takes to create that success: a lot of hard work, a high level of commitment and a focus on today,” he said.

“The soul of our identity when it comes to culture is going to be based on a trust that's centered around sacrifice, connectivity, competitive spirit and an overall belief in the process,” he added.

Brown had a 454-304 record as a head coach with Cleveland (twice), the Lakers and the Kings. He has coached teams from the start of the season through the finish eight times and six of those clubs made the postseason.

Asked directly about the expectations that will meet him in this new job, Brown replied, “Nobody has any bigger expectations than I do. My expectations are high. But this is the Knicks. . . . I love and embrace the expectations that come along with that so I am looking forward to this.”

Brown replaces Tom Thibodeau, whose firing stunned many. Thibodeau joined an unsuccessful organization and got it to the postseason four times in five seasons. In 2024-25, the Knicks won 51 regular-season games and reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.

Brown emerged from a search that saw the Knicks conduct in-person interviews with three other candidates: former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins, top Minnesota assistant coach Micah Nori and former Charlotte head coach James Borrego. The Knicks sought interviews with several current head coaches — Dallas’ Jason Kidd, Houston’s Ime Udoka, Minnesota’s Chris Finch, Atlanta’s Quin Snyder and Chicago’s Billy Donovan — but none of those teams granted them permission.

“Mike has coached on the biggest stages in our sport and brings championship pedigree to our organization,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a team statement. “His experience leading the bench during the NBA Finals, winning four titles as an assistant coach, and his ability to grow and develop players will all help us as we aim to bring a championship to New York for our fans.”

Brown wasn’t especially revealing about how he envisions the Knicks' playing style changing, outside of saying “everyone knows I like to play fast.” However he did show enthusiasm about coaching a team run by Jalen Brunson.

“To have a guy like Jalen out there gives you the versatility to play all different kinds of ways, which is what it’s going to take over the course of a ballgame,” Brown said.

Rose in recent days has made moves to make a Knicks team that was overly reliant on the first seven players in the rotation a deeper group. They signed Jordan Clarkson, who was the 2021 NBA Sixth Man of the Year and averaged 16.2 points this past season with Utah, to be an offensive spark off the bench. They added stretch big man Guerschon Yabusele, who averaged 11 points for Philadelphia last season.

“We just added two new additions to the team that are going to bring a lot of versatility to how we’re going to play,” Brown said. “I just can’t wait to get on the court and start implementing things we want to do offensively to help us grow and take it another level.”