A STORY I CAN RELATE TO
I’m a big believer that success leaves clues, and that there are lessons each of us who want to win should be trying to learn from those who've been where it is we want to go. Once you start paying attention, you recognize patterns in those who've earned the right to be called a champion. You start to see that their success is not an accident, but rather the byproduct of some intentional choices, behaviors, and responses. In our own winning pursuit, there’s a lot those people can teach us.
This week I watched the New York Knicks win their first NBA championship in 53 years, and as usual, I was looking for clues. Surely the people who were a part of this historic achievement had some lessons worth sharing. Maybe it was Jalen Brunson, the undersized bulldog who became the face of the franchise. Maybe it was OG Anunoby, whose steady demeanor anchored the team in their biggest moments. Maybe was Josh Hart, who willingly did the dirty work that didn’t always get the attention it deserved, but that every winning team needs done.
There was something valuable each of those examples had to offer, but I have to admit that there is also something about each of them that I struggle to relate to. Sometimes that’s the challenge that comes with looking at and learning from the uniquely gifted superstars. They have a way of making success look easy - too easy, sometimes, for someone like me. Was there anyone from this Knicks team whose story felt a little more like my own?
The answer came from a somewhat unexpected place. Turns out, it wasn’t a player at all, but actually first-year Knicks head coach Mike Brown I found myself studying. He, too, earned the right to be called a champion this week. But there’s something about his journey that felt a little more familiar. I’m wondering if here today there is a lesson his success might encourage you to learn, too.
Let’s start with the fact that like me and I’m guessing like you, too, Mike Brown has had his fair share of successes. As a first-time head coach back in 2009, he was named NBA Coach of the Year when he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a franchise-record for wins in a season. He won the award again in 2023, this time leading the Sacramento Kings. He’s had success in each of his five head coaching positions.
But Mike Brown’s journey to 2026 NBA champion hasn’t been some cakewalk to the top. Remember those Coach of the Year awards he won? Those same franchises fired him within the next calendar year. Before coming to the Knicks, he was also hired and fired by the Los Angeles Lakers, and then - get this - he was re-hired and re-fired by Cleveland again! Mike Brown’s story is filled with successes and celebrations, sure, but it’s filled with just as many failures and frustrations, too. And at least for me here today - and I’m guessing maybe for you here, too - that’s a story I can relate to.
Head coach Mike Brown reached the pinnacle of professional basketball this season by winning his first NBA championship. But when we look back at the long and winding road that led him to this point, a few important lessons seem to stand out. Like most of us, his road to success has been filled with all kinds of ups and downs. That's actually the way it works for most of us - success, not in the absence of failure and adversity, but success in spite of it.
If you’re here today wondering what part failure or adversity is supposed to play in your winning pursuit, then I’d encourage you to look at Mike Brown’s journey, and the clues it leaves behind. The fact that he finds himself at the top of the NBA mountain is no accident, but rather the byproduct of some intentional choices, behaviors, and responses. It's been a long and winding road that's led him to the mountaintop. If we’re paying attention, there’s a lot his story can teach us.
