Second-year New York Knicks guard Tyler Kolek played sparingly on then-head coach Tom Thibodeau’s 51-31 squad in 2024-25, his rookie season.
Across just 41 games, the 6-foot-1 guard averaged 2.0 points on .329/.298/.765 shooting splits, 1.7 assists, and 0.7 rebounds in 7.2 minutes per.
When he played for New York’s NBAGL affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, Kolek thrived, averaging 18.0 points on a still-inefficient shooting line of .394/.292/1.000, plus 10.0 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks in four games.
Kolek is now plying his trade for the Knicks’ Summer League team for the second straight season. On the offseason team, only Kolek, center Ariel Hukporti and forward Pacome Dadiet have guaranteed deals for 2025-26.
In New York’s first Summer League bout, a 104-86 loss to the Detroit Pistons, Kolek scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field (0-of-5 from distance) and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, dished out eight dimes, pulled down six rebounds, blocked a shot and swiped a steal. He also coughed up the ball to the tune of five turnovers.
Per Steve Popper of Newsday, Kolek spoke optimistically about his second head coach in as many years, Mike Brown. Popper notes that Brown is looking to implement a faster-paced offense than Thibodeau’s preferred approach in recent seasons.
Knicks Sunday Insider: Knicks using Summer League action to speed up their game
New coach Mike Brown also saw with summer debut that it will take time to implement. https://t.co/Ux28Ql0ZCl— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) July 13, 2025
“You’re never starting over,” Kolek said. “What you have is your foundation and build off of that. No matter who the coach is. I’m sure coach has his people that he talks to and connects with about whoever, not just me but Jalen [Brunson], about everybody. He’s trying to learn everybody’s personalities, what they like, what they don’t like. I think he’ll do a good job of that.”
New York fired Thibodeau after its making first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years, but the versatile Brown seems likely to be a solid substitute.
Brown arrives in New York fresh off an uneven stint with the Sacramento Kings, where he showed an impressive ability to coach up the team’s offense-first stars. Sacramento’s front office bungled its roster moves after a solid 48-34 showing and a playoff run in 2022-23, Brown’s first season.
Sacramento went 46-36 but missed the playoffs in 2023-24 while carrying a similarly flawed roster. The bloom was fully off the rose in 2024-25. Brown was let go midway through the year, but the ill-fitting Kings didn’t recover without him. Ultimately, All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox demanded a trade out of town, and was moved to the San Antonio Spurs midseason.
The Knicks have added a pair of veteran free agents, forward Guerschon Yabusele and guard Jordan Clarkson, to join a core of All-Stars Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, All-Defensive Team wings Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, shooting guard Josh Hart and reserve center Mitchell Robinson.
Whether Kolek can earn rotation minutes ahead of fellow reserve point guard Miles McBride, who’s now effectively New York’s ninth man, remains to be seen.
“I think every season is a new opportunity,” Kolek said. “Every year is a fresh start, new guys come in. We signed some free agents, so every year there’s fresh opportunity. And it starts right here, proving myself here, proving myself in August workouts, prove myself in camp, and then throughout the season. Just keep on proving myself until you get to where you have to be and then you have to do it all over again. It never really stops.”
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