The New York Knicks were on a journey to win it all. Raising the Larry O’Brien Saturday night after beating the Spurs 4-1 in the NBA Finals, they proved that no lead is long enough. With that, the world champion title returns to New York after a long 53-year drought, and while most of the credit goes to the players who fought through the adversity, a lot of applause also goes to the head coach, Mike Brown. For one, his former player, Stephen Curry, did not forget that.

“Couldn’t happen to a better guy! Congrats Mike B,” Curry posted on his Instagram story on Sunday, sharing a special message to his former assistant head coach, whom he continues to admire.

Mike Brown and Stephen Curry share a bond forged during their six seasons together with the Golden State Warriors (2016–2022), during which Brown served as the associate head coach and the team won three NBA championships.

Brown was an integral right-hand man to Steve Kerr across six years. And when Kerr’s back issues forced him to the sideline during the 2017 playoffs, Brown stepped into the interim role. The team went 12-0 through four playoff series before the finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which they eventually won. And it’s not the only time Stephen Curry appreciated his former coach’s impact with the Knicks.

“When he was on our staff we accomplished a lot,” Curry said a few months ago. “And I’m happy to see him doing well in New York. It’s just good memories and the competition of the game kind of brings out the best in us.”

The impact on Mike Brown from Steph Curry was also immaculate. Through his near three decade coaching experience in the NBA, Brown worked with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the Spurs team when they won the 2003 NBA Championship. But from that, the two-time Coach of the Year only compared Jalen Brunson’s leadership and impact with Stephen Curry and Tim Duncan.

“Tim Duncan and Steph Curry. Those. They’re not the same player, but the aura those guys have, the quiet strength that they have, it’s unbelievable. Those were the kind of guys. They just got it. They got it on the floor and off the floor; they’re the whole package.”

So, the respect and love between the two remain unchanged. When Brown took over the head coaching job with the Kings in 2022, Stephen Curry even joked about the transition. The four-time NBA champion felt like the Warriors “got traded to the Kings overnight” because of how rapidly Brown was moving on to his next opportunity. However, the skills he brings to the table certainly deserve a raise to the head coaching position.

And with what he did with the Knicks, a team that did not have much going for them, he certainly made it all worth it. With this win, Brown becomes an NBA champion for the first time as a head coach in his second year with the Knicks. And what’s interesting is that Brown quite literally used his learnings from his time in San Francisco throughout this championship run.

“When I was in Golden State and we played Houston, we counted James Harden’s dribbles,” Brown said during Game 1. “We told our guys he’s dribbling close to 1,000 times a game. Keep picking him up full court and make him dribble. At the end of the game, it would wear him down.”

The Knicks followed the plan and limited Harden to just 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting and 1-for-8 shooting from 3-point range while committing six turnovers.

In Game 2, the comparison with Golden State came again. This time, Josh Hart erupted with a playoff career-high 26 points, and the Knicks head coach compared the impact with previous Finals MVP Andre Iguodala. Brown highlighted how both players are ready to sacrifice their offensive game, and their impact is way beyond the stat sheet. This time, Iggy paid back the compliment.

“MIKE BROWN!!!,” he tweeted to celebrate the Knicks’ coach.

These messages for Brown highlight a beautiful story: the time with the Warriors was not a sour one for the Knicks head coach, Stephen Curry, and Iggy. However, all of them, especially Brown, continued to use those learnings and finally won the championship as a head coach.