Barbara Barker: Knicks' Mike Brown's meltdown was exactly what team needed
Knicks head coach Mike Brown argues a call with an official during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
Jalen Brunson may have missed a shot at the end of the Knicks' 103-100 loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, but he landed another one perfectly in the locker room about a half-hour later.
At the end of Brunson’s postgame interview, a reporter noticed that the point guard had a dark mark under his right eye and asked what it was.
“A little black eye,” Brunson said with a half-smile. “Probably a no-call.”
Ka-boom! Ouch! With that comment, Brunson drove home a point that Knicks fans continued to echo overnight and into Thursday morning.
Oklahoma City has long had a reputation as a team that gets away with being extremely physical on defense and has a star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who constantly gets the benefit of the doubt.
Given that the Thunder play in the Western Conference and this was their first game against the Knicks this season, this was something that was not previously high on Knicks fans’ radar.
It sure is now. Everyone from comedian Ben Stiller to “Entourage” star Jerry Ferrara posted on X about the so-called “no-call” Gilgeous-Alexander received late in the first quarter.
This is abhorrent. https://t.co/c8IVhf9HBO
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) March 5, 2026
I would rather them call a foul on Brunson here then NO call. At least there could have a been a challenge. But weird no call and then call the same thing on OG later. Oh well. https://t.co/HS7VUKMCo7
— Jerry Ferrara (@jerryferrara) March 5, 2026
No one loves a villain more than Knicks fans. From Bill Laimbeer to Reggie Miller to Trae Young, Madison Square Garden has a long history of zeroing in on players to hate.
It appears Gilgeous-Alexander could be the next villain, which would make for one incredible storyline if these teams meet in the NBA Finals.
But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here.
The question is, does Gilgeous-Alexander get preferential treatment? And the answer is, what did you expect?
The fact that the reigning MVP on the defending NBA champion got treated with kid gloves in a nationally televised game in his only trip to Madison Square Garden of the season really shouldn’t be all that newsworthy.
What was, however, is how the Knicks and coach Mike Brown reacted to it, which is something that bodes well for the cohesion of this team as it heads into the final 19 games of the regular season.
Let’s start with Brown. His reaction — both during and after the game — to the fact that officials did not blow the whistle on a play at the end of the first quarter in which Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the basket and Brunson stepped in to take a charge was savvy on multiple levels.
To review: The usually calm and cordial Brown exploded after watching Brunson get knocked to the ground while Gilgeous-Alexander finished an uncontested layup. Brown was so upset by the non-call that he ran out onto the court yelling at crew chief Brian Forte and had to be held back by Rick Brunson, the Knicks’ emotional assistant coach and Jalen’s father.
Brown was assessed a technical for his outburst, which of course is exactly what he wanted.
It was a situation in which his players could have reacted poorly to the way the game was being called. Instead, he did it for them, and they played the kind of defense they needed to keep themselves in the game.
Afterward, Brown doubled down with the message that the Knicks had been victimized by officials.
“SGA, he’s a tough cover,” Brown said. “He does a great job of convincing the referees, probably better than anyone in the league, that he’s getting hit.”
Then, when specifically asked about the technical, Brown pulled no punches.
“You guys saw the play,” Brown said. “SGA had two fouls and Jalen was there, and he ran him over . . . I don’t understand why that was a no-call. But that should’ve been his third, the bucket shouldn’t have counted and we should’ve gone the other way with the basketball.”
Brunson was asked after the game if it felt good to see his coach go to bat for him.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m going to have his back every single night. He has ours, regardless of what he does or the tech he gets or whatever. I’m going to have his back.”
Brown didn’t have to win over Brunson. That likely happened before he was hired. He did have to win over a portion of Knicks fans who have yet to see him coach their team in the playoffs, have yet to see him go through the wars the way former coach Tom Thibodeau did with the team.
He took a step toward that Wednesday, and his team took a step forward despite the loss.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
