The Calvin Sports Information office recently caught up with one its own, 2015 Calvin graduate Jordan Brink who served as a student assistant with the Calvin Sports Info office during his student days. Brink was recently part of an NBA World Championship with the New York Knicks.

A native of Dyer, Indiana, Brink (Illiana Christian High School) Brink has been on the support staff of the New York Knicks since 2023 when he was hired by then Knicks' head coach Tom Thibodeau as the Director of Video/Analytics and Player Development Assistant. He was promoted to Assistant Director of Player Development of the Knicks in 2024-25. Last summer newly hired Knicks' head coach Mike Brown promoted Brink to Assistant Coach as well as the head coach of the Knicks' NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

He is the lead for New York Knicks in-game video review challenges. He played a key role in successful challenges during this year's NBA Finals and has one of the highest success rates in the NBA for challenges during his Knicks tenure.

Brink's NBA career has roots in his Calvin University education. As a senior during the 2014-15 academic year, he served as an intern with the Grand Rapids Drive, the NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, which, at the time, held practices at Calvin's Van Noord Arena.

As a student, he was a four-year member of the Calvin men's basketball team, earning NCAA Division III All-America honors as well as College Sports Communicators Academic All-America accolades. Brink is ranked 11th on the Calvin men's basketball career scoring list (1,497 points), second in career three-point field goals (215) and fourth in career assists (282). In addition, he is Calvin's all-time leader in free throw percentage, converting 90.0 percent (307-of-341) of his charity tosses. He also holds the Calvin single-season record for free throw percentage, converting 95.7 percent (44-of-46) of his tries during the 2012-13 season. He is sixth on Calvin's list for career three-point field goal percentage (.433).

JORDAN BRINK QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

Q: Looking back, what stands out most about your education at Calvin?

A: I think there are two things that stand out with my education at Calvin. The first is the spectrum of subjects I studied within a liberal arts curriculum. The second is the diversity of thought and the wise amount of perspectives that I interacted with in and out of the classroom.

Q: How did Calvin prepare you for the role or industry you're in today?

A: Calvin prepared me for working in sports in a variety of ways. One was through playing a sport and learning what is required within a team schedule and commitments. I also worked different jobs specifically with the (Calvin) sports information department. That student-worker experience helped me see other how other sports operate. I did a lot of smaller jobs around the (Calvin) teams which was kind of a way to learn the industry like I've had to do in the NBA. During my last year at Calvin, I had an internship with the (NBA G' League) Grand Rapids Drive who were (then) practicing at Calvin. I did a little bit of everything for them. All those experiences prepared me for working in sports. A huge part of those experiences were being part of a different team but at the same time, you use teamwork and team building to accomplish a goal with a lot of different people working as one unit.

Q: Were there experiences—classes, internships, or mentors—that shaped your career direction?

A: I touched on that a bit with the last question, but I learned a lot from working in the Calvin Sports Information office. I learned a lot about people behind the scenes doing the scoreboard at games and doing the internet broadcasts for baseball. Doing some of the behind-the-scenes jobs that don't get a ton of recognition has helped me in my job now. We still have many of those same roles in the NBA. That helped prepare me to be a better teammate and employee.

Q: When you reflect on your time at Calvin, what do you now realize was uniquely valuable?

A: Calvin has an "Every Square Inch" mission. That has helped give me a lens with my vocation and it's a lens I've taken with me throughout my professional career. It has provided a foundation while working in a highly competitive and secular industry. It has been a great foundation for my day-to-day activities and my perspective on how to go about my job.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your journey to the Knicks and working with many different coaches along the way. I know that you grew up on the outskirts of a big major city (Chicago) so moving to a big city like New York maybe wasn't as big of a culture shock as it might be for others. What can you us about the last three years?

A: Growing up near Chicago and later moving to Detroit was a fairly smooth process. Moving to New York City was a significant culture shock. New York City moves very fast and it took me a while to get used to its pace, even coming from another large city. I got the job with the Knicks because I was out of work (due to a coaching staff transition with the Detroit Pistons). (Former Pistons head coach and GM) Stan Van Gundy had good connections with the Knicks. He made a call on my behalf and I got hired by (then Knicks' head coach) Tom Thibodeau. I did anything he needed during my first year. I beat him to the office every day, arriving around 5 a.m. I had his paperwork organized on the desk for him the way he liked it. It was kind of like a step back for me that first year because I was doing video type scouting jobs that I had started with when I was with the Pistons. That was hard moving to a new city and doing a job that I hadn't done in a few years for a new coach. I didn't get a lot of sleep but after that first season, I got promoted to being mainly an assistant coach again. I kind of built the trust of Coach Thibodeau and then just started doing a little bit more actual coaching. Then we had a good season in year two but fell just short of our goal in the playoffs.

Q: And then you had to endure another coaching change….

A: Correct. New York ended up making a (head) coaching change and as an assistant, you go into the summer not knowing if you have a job. They told me I was going to do the NBA Las Vegas Summer League as the head coach, which was an awesome experience but we didn't have a (main) head coach at the time. Coaching the NBA Summer League team was a bit of a job interview. The Summer League was challenging but a great experience to be a head coach for a little bit of time. At the end of NBA Summer League schedule, I was informed that I would be staying on for another year by the new head coach Mike Brown.

Q: What was this year like under Coach Brown?

A: It was good. I was an assistant coach that did a little bit of everything for him. It took time for everyone to gel as a unit. In the playoffs, we went on a crazy run and ended up getting the job done. It's been an up-and-down journey but it's been fun. It's been cool to see the city so happy after winning a title for the first time in 53 years. The celebrations have been remarkable.

Q: You started an in-game video review job that started with Coach Thibodeau and you continued that role into this year under Coach Brown. How did you get put into that role?

A: In my first year, I was doing a different job behind the scenes. Then the guy that was doing it left and there was a vacancy for the role. My whole niche has always been doing a little bit of everything and making sure things get done well. I had done a lot of organizing for the head coach and he just trusted me with that job based on the prior year. He gave me that role and it's a role that no one really wants in the NBA. It's a difficult role because it carries a lot of pressure. You're getting yelled at by the players, coaches and fans to make a (video review) challenge. It's a high-stress job but it also has been great for learning the game from a game management standpoint. It forces you to look at the game in a very unemotional way. You have to be aware of who is in foul trouble and gauge your timeouts. You also need to know the actual rules inside and out. There are times you can win a challenge but it's not worth it or sometimes you could lose a challenge and still save points. Again, a lot of it comes down to knowing the rules and nuances of the rules to have a feel on what the refs are going to overturn. It takes time, effort and study before games to be fully prepared when the challenge moments are there.

Q: I don't necessarily want to make you the spokesperson for the New York Knicks but maybe can you talk a little bit about the run that the team went on in the playoffs. From afar, it seemed like the team was playing at a certain level and then it took a jump to a much higher level. From your perspective you know what were the ingredients that went into the (championship) run?

A: The season was a great lesson for me, learning from a team building perspective and making sure the team is at its best at the end when it matters. We had a lot of ups and downs through the year. We were going through a lot of change with the new head coach and staff. Everyone was getting used to each other so we started the season a little slow. We changed our offense and defense from what we had done previously. It took time for the players to trust what we were doing as a coaching staff and then they had to change their roles. That's always a challenge, making sure that everyone's bought into their role at the right time. I think we got to a point as a group where we knew we either had to be all in and sacrifice for the group or it wasn't going to end well for us.

Q: And that process took some time didn't it?

A: No doubt. We didn't look amazing for a good chunk of the season, but I think we all knew what we had. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together and getting everybody on the same page. It wasn't just one moment but there definitely were significant moments like when we were down in the series against Atlanta. We started having conversations that were honest and direct. After that, we started playing good basketball. The biggest thing was the sacrifice you know from the coaches and players for the common good. The seasons are long. You don't need to play your best in October and November. It's all about playing the best at the right time and it was cool for us because it felt like we were on a gradual uptick. We showed flashes throughout the season but at the at the end when we needed it, we pieced it all together.

Q: I think this might have been at the end of your first year with the Pistons but I recall that you had attended an NBA Finals as a fan. What was it like to be in the NBA Finals with a competing team?

A: As a fan, it's cool and exciting but it is way different when you are part of one of the competing teams. The hoopla and media surrounding the finals is like nothing I've ever seen in my 12 years in the NBA. I was a part of the NBA Cup earlier this year which had similar vibes but just not at the level of the NBA Finals.  

Q: The NBA has become a bit of a global sport. Did you sense that at the Finals?

A: Without a doubt. The global stage that the NBA is on is huge and the media covering the Finals from different parts of the world was wild. It was a lot different than the conference finals due to the extended days off in between games. With that, there's a lot of potential for distractions, but we were fortunate to have a coach who had been through the NBA Finals experience multiple times, so he was there to warn us and kept everyone on track.

Q: Two of the (NBA Finals) games were in Madison Square Garden and it was quite the atmosphere to watch on television. What was the atmosphere of Madison Square Garden like for you, particularly in game four when the Knicks had that amazing comeback from being down 29 points?

A: One of the great experiences working for the Knicks is getting to be a part of Madison Square Garden on a regular basis. There's certain venues in sports where you can feel the historic piece when you walk in and Madison Square Garden is one of them. I've been to baseball stadiums like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park and Madison Square Garden is right there as a venue. The playoff game (4) where we came back was crazy. Over the last couple of years, we've been a team that has come back quite a bit from big deficits. Some of that is just the character of the guys on our team. We have a lot of players that stick with it and are mentally and physically tough. It's a long game and we've seen our team do it before, so I don't think anyone thought we had no chance to come back. We knew at halftime (down 76-49) what was ahead of us. We just chipped away and the home crowd helped. The crowd influenced the outcome of the game and that's why homecourt is so important in basketball. We just have a bunch of guys that are winners on our team and Jalen Brunson is obviously the head of everything for us. He's tough and very composed and we followed his lead. I think our playoff experience over the last 3-4 years helped give us the final edge.

Q: You do rub elbows a little bit with the celebrities who skirt the lower bowl of MSG.  I would guess they know who you are and vice versa for you. What's it like having so many celebrities there in the lower bowl and just being a part of the Knicks' experience?

A: It's a unique experience for sure. There's some of that with the Los Angeles Lakers but it's  on a different level with the Knicks. It's great to see them so many times at games. You kind of get to the point where they give you the head nod or wave or maybe they shake your hand. But when it comes down to it, they are Knicks fans and Knicks fans are very knowledgeable. They know you have a job to do so they give you the proper space. It was cool to see some of the celebrities included in our celebration in the locker room after the game or in the championships parade the following week.  I had (actor) Timothee Chalamet run up to me after the championship game and he said, "I got so much trust in you behind the bench. You're the best challenge guy in the NBA!"  It's cool having an experience like that and understand they know what is going on behind the scenes.

Q: The New York media is a different type of entity than anywhere else and they're part of working in New York. What's been your observations of the New York City media?

A: It's crazy. Everything that takes place, whether it's good or bad, is amplified way more than any other place I have worked. We might have a rough game in the middle of the season, and you'd think everything is burning down with the way the media covers that game afterwards. The highs and lows are very amplified here. The head coaches I've worked under here, Tom Thibedeau and Mike Brown have been great at staying levelheaded and keeping the players focused. That mindset forces our guys to be locked into the moment. If you hang on to the praise or criticism you just put yourself in a bad spot.

Q:  What was the championship parade experience like going through the city the week after?

A: We started in Battery Park and went through what is called the Canyon of Heroes route that travels through Broadway and ends up at New York City Hall where we had speeches and other stuff. It was unbelievable. Going through the parade was something right out of a movie. There were over 2 million people in a pretty small stretch of the city. Fans were hanging on buildings and light poles. It was better than anything I could have ever pictured in my head. It's an experience I'll never forget.

Q: How have you learned from the many coaches that you have worked with in your career in the professional ranks?

A: You learn from each coach that you work with and take different things from them with what they do well. I would say that like the most notable coaches that I have really learned the most from our Stan Van Gundy, Dwane Casey, Tom Thibodeau, Mike Brown, Sean Sweeney and Micah Nori. There are some other people like (Hall of Famer) Maurice Cheeks who have been great mentors to me and to our players. They have so much wisdom to impart and all of them are great at certain things. You take a piece from all of them and use it as building blocks for yourself. I've been blessed to be around all of them.

Q: You have spoken to me in the past about how important relationships are in the NBA. I'm assuming that's still just as key?

A: I think relationships are the most important part of this business and really any business. Creating relationships is how you build trust and then over time that's to me how you can really lead and get people to do what you're asking of them. What inspires me to coach is help athletes perform to the best of their ability for a common team goal. When athletes know that you're bought into helping them as an individual both professionally and personally, they thrive and produce at a higher level than what they might have ever expected.