Knicks Lose Challenge Guru Jordan Brink to Bulls — What It Means
New York's replay wizard is off to Chicago after three seasons. His most famous call swung a 105-104 Finals win — and OG Anunoby's line right along with it.
Coaching-staff churn doesn't move a locked-in wing starter.
- Brink joined Knicks in 2023, ran challenges last 2 yrs
- Hired to Bulls' staff under Tiago Splitter
- His Finals Game 2 challenge helped a 105-104 win
- Anunoby: #81 overall, #26 at position
- Anunoby: 31.3 FPTS/G in 2025-26 (67 games)
The Knicks just lost a coach most fans couldn't pick out of a lineup — and it might sting more than it looks. Jordan Brink, New York's director of video services and player development, is off to Chicago to join Tiago Splitter's staff. Over three seasons with the Knicks, the last two put him in charge of one very specific, very valuable job: challenges.
That's not a throwaway detail. New York was elite at replay under Brink, and the receipts are on tape. In Game 2 of last season's Finals, with the score tied 97-97 and 2:37 left in a game the Knicks were busy blowing a 14-point lead, refs ruled the ball out off OG Anunoby. Brink told coach Mike Brown to challenge for a shooting foul instead. The call flipped, Anunoby drilled all three free throws, and New York held on 105-104 at Frost Bank Center.
Brown didn't hide how much he leaned on him. He called Brink a master at it and said the Game 2 challenge was 100 percent his call — that when Brown gets emotional and tries to stick it to the refs, it never works, so he follows Brink's lead instead. That's a rare admission from a head coach, and it tells you exactly what New York is losing.
The math on the departure is simple. Brink's contract was up, the Knicks' bench is crowded, and there was no room to promote him. Chicago offered a real step up — plus a move closer to home for the Dyer, Indiana native who has head-coaching ambitions. He also served as New York's Summer League coach last year, and the Knicks earlier lost lower-level assistant Carson Shanks. Brink leaves as a champion and a hole they now have to fill.
The Fantasy Angle
Here's the honest read: this is a front-of-the-bench story, not a rotation story. Losing your challenge specialist doesn't change minutes, usage, or shot diet for anyone on the roster. Anunoby remains a locked-in starter who posted 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 67 games in 2025-26, good for 31.3 fantasy points per game and our #81 overall ranking (#26 at his position).
If anything, the one tangible ripple is intangible — New York may lose the extra possessions and reversed calls that a sharp challenge operation quietly manufactures over 82 games. That's a team-efficiency footnote, not a lineup decision. Hold Anunoby with full confidence; his last five games ran +2.3 fantasy points above his season average, and nothing about a coaching hire in Chicago touches that.
