Friday, Michael Scotto of HoopHype reported that the Chicago Bulls are hiring Jordan Brink as an assistant coach on head coach Tiago Splitter's staff and as director of player development.
The Chicago Bulls are hiring Jordan Brink as Assistant Coach / Director of Player Development, sources told @hoopshype. Brink won an NBA championship with the New York Knicks as an assistant coach on Mike Brown’s staff. Prior, Brink was an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons. pic.twitter.com/S88k7iYlvi
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) August 14, 2026
Brink joins the Bulls immediately after a three-season stint with the New York Knicks, culminating in winning the 2025-26 NBA championship, as an assistant coach for former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau and his Knicks successor, Mike Brown.
The hiring of Brink by the Bulls represents an intriguing addition to Splitter's coaching staff, as Brink projects to be an ideal coaching match for a rebuilding 2026-27 Bulls roster that will be headlined by a top lottery pick, rookie Caleb Wilson.
Jordan Brink earned his NBA player development bona fides through nine NBA seasons working inside the Detroit Pistons organization, working his way up from intern while completing his senior season of NCAA men’s basketball at Calvin University to his final Pistons seasons as an assistant coach for then-Pistons head coach Dwayne Casey during the 2022-23 NBA season.
Brink’s player development experience with the Pistons took on depth that is extremely relevant to the Bulls. Brink served as the Pistons’ Las Vegas Summer League head coach for the 2022-23 NBA season, on a roster that featured a collection of young talent, including top lottery pick guard Cade Cunningham, center Jalen Duren, and center Isaiah Stewart. Â
Additionally, Brink also served as the Knicks’ Las Vegas Summer League head coach for the 2025-26 season, which featured second-year guard Tyler Kolek, who realized a good second-year bump in bench scoring, finishing the 2025-26 NBA regular season averaging 13.6 points per 36 minutes compared to his rookie season average of 9.9 points per 36 minutes, according to Basketball Reference.
Brink is low-key Bulls legacy player development
Besides working with Cunningham in his first two seasons with the Pistons, Brink’s NBA player development track record originates from a historically relevant source in the Bulls franchise universe.Â
Brink, a Northwest Indiana native from Dyer, IN, volunteered at ATTTACK Athletics, a Chicago gym founded by Tim Grover, famously Michael Jordan’s personal trainer, according to a feature interview (subscription required) Brink gave to The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III.
Grover’s NBA player development pedigree stretches well beyond His Airness and includes Bulls legend Scottie Pippen, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, former Bulls guard Dwyane Wade, among countless other NBA clients. Â
Combining all this with the fact that Brink worked for Thibodeau on his Knicks coaching staff, this hire seems like an unintentional Bulls nostalgia move.
Brink’s oddly specific assistant coach superpower
Jordan Brink departs the Knicks not only as an NBA champion but also as the undisputed NBA challenge king of New York. Â
Knicks summer league update: Jordan Brink will be coaching New York in Las Vegas, per multiple league sources.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) July 3, 2025
Brink was on Thibs’ staff and largely responsible for one of the best challenge success rates in the NBA. Good, young coach deserving of the role.
Underrated moment in that chaos: Great challenge by Jordan Brink on the original OG Anunoby no-call. Call got reversed and it led to three free throws in a one-point win.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) June 6, 2026
Brink earned the reputation as Thibodeau’s challenge guy and carried over that success to Mike Brown’s coaching staff en route to the Knicks' championship run throughout the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
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