The Meeting KAT Had With Mike Brown After The Game 3 Loss Against The Hawks Will Go Down In New York Knicks History As One Of The Main Turning Points To Winning This Title

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What an unbelievable 12+ hours it's been as the world crowns a new NBA champion, the New York Knicks. What a fucking sentence to type out. 

There are so many crazy aspects to all of this, but one that keeps sticking out to me is how bad things were to begin that Hawks series, and how everything changed following Game 3. If you watched this team during the regular season, sure there were multiple good stretches, but once the calendar flipped to January the losses piled up, dropping 9 of 10 at one point. This wasn't a start to finish team of destiny feel by any means here. There was uneasiness with head coach Mike Brown and whether he gelled with the roster. Would KAT every change and adapt to the role they needed him to transform into to become a serious threat? Through the first three games of that Hawks series, we saw plenty of the same concerns raised during the depressing points of the season. Vibes were low. Well, something happened before Game 4 against the Hawks that flipped everything. That something was KAT approaching Mike Brown about changing the offense, utilizing the big man more and having the offense flow through him. 

They would go on to outscore the Hawks by 96 points over the next three games. They lost one game the rest of the postseason following that meeting. It wasn't all funneling through KAT in every series, but the mentality of the team was completely different. 

Mike Brown changing the offense on the fly showed you the major difference he brought to the table over Tom Thibodeau —adaptability. I loved Thibs, but that was one stubborn fella who had one speed. You gotta be willing to make adjustments. That and play an actual bench. I was perfectly fine with firing Thibs, but I had my reservations with Mike Brown. I expected a way sexier hire and did not think he was the man for the job. Happy as ever to be proven wrong and also ashamed to have ever doubted the mind of Leon Rose. 

As for KAT. Once again, hand up I never thought he could win a title paired with Brunson. It seemed impossible with their defensive deficiencies to share the court in the playoffs and win. KAT's transformation this postseason into a guy who actually took defense seriously and was all about the team is something I never saw coming. 

Sure he wasn't great in the clincher, but make no mistake they are not here right now without KAT. 

I must find out what went down in that meeting after Game 3. I need a fucking movie about it. What a turnaround. What a run. What a team. Champions. Get your merch here.