Mike Brown arrived in New York with enormous expectations and plenty of doubters.

He had been fired multiple times as an NBA head coach, was not viewed as the Knicks’ first choice and inherited a team coming off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. His assignment was simple to describe but incredibly difficult to complete: take the Knicks somewhere they had not been in 53 years.

In this video essay, Dexter Henry examines Brown’s entire coaching journey from his beginnings as an unpaid video intern to his stops with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings as well as how those experiences prepared him for the pressure of coaching in New York.

From questioned hire to championship coach, this is the story of how Mike Brown adapted, collaborated and proved he was the right man to lead the Knicks to the mountaintop.