Friday, November 9th, 2012 at 12:35 pm  |  158 responses

Mike Brown Fired By the Los Angeles Lakers (UPDATE)


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

UPDATE: Um … wow! According to USA Today, Mike Brown is no longer gainfully employed. The Lakers fired their head coach, a day after saying his job was safe: “Mike Brown has been fired by the Los Angeles Lakers, according to his agent Warren Legarie. The Lakers are off to a 1-4 start and will play Golden State tonight at the Staples Center.”

+++++++++++++++

Publicly, the Los Angeles Lakers — everyone from management to players with influence — are saying all of the right, re-assuring things about Mike Brown.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the team’s disappointing 1-4 start to the season has the sharks circling around the embattled head coach.

Unemployed coaches are rumored to be interested in Brown’s job, and there’s now talk that management is losing patience with him.

Per ESPN:

Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown’s job would be in immediate jeopardy if the team’s six-game homestand is unsuccessful, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources said that the Lakers, while having publicly expressed support for Brown in the wake of a 1-4 start, have privately grown sufficiently concerned about the state of the team to the point that management is prepared to look seriously at a coaching change at this early juncture if L.A. can’t take advantage of what look to be multiple winnable games in the upcoming stretch.

Believe it or not, there is good news on the horizon for Mike Brown. In theory, anyway: the Lakers have a long, and easy homestand starting tonight, and their record should look a lot more respectable in the coming days.

It’s going to be a fascinating season for the Lakers and Mike Brown. Whether he survives it, remains very much up in the air.

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  • LakeShow

    I know, it’s definitely one for the record books. Ice cold lol.

  • danpowers

    amen

  • Rainman

    About damn time btw. Bring in Sloan or D’aintoni. (my preference is in exactly that order) . Btw, if they’re gonna put Jordan as the interim, wth? thats still a princeton offence brought forward by the ass that suggested it in the first place(Jordan)

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Dwight is somewhere else next season if they don’t hire a great coach. First order of business, get rid of that offense.

  • Rainman

    This also goes to show that whatever anybody says publicly is more than likely a load of Crap.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    because he will be what keeps the Lakers from extending Dwight Howard…..the guy couldn’t get along with Stan Van Gundy….you really think Jerry Sloan will somehow have a better relationship?

  • Rainman

    Agree completely, it was a stupid hiring to begin with.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Bring in a coach who can resuscitate Antawn Jamison.

  • north

    I can’t recall a time where Nash was fast enough to call his running “sprinting” EVER

  • T-Money

    they need phil’s triangle. they need a system that allows dwight, pau, kobe and mwp to be post threats. i don’t think d’antoni would do them any good because SSOL requires a PF in the shawn marion mold. pau lost a lot of mobility, he is basically another C at this point in his career.

  • bike

    Would Sloan really be a good choice? He doesn’t seem like a good fit in a huge glittery market with mega egos. D’Antoni? He couldn’t make it work in NY, why would anyone think he could make it in LA? Coach K?…

  • rufio1101

    The problem is not Lakers’ offense. They score an average of 100ppg and have a 50% fg average. thats better than most teams right now. Theyre problem is there defense. They’re giving away too many easy points at crucial times of the game. They need a coach who can patch that up, not the offense.

  • robb

    Yes! thank you for nothing Mike. Good luck!

  • KC

    At some point no matter who the coach is or what offense you are running, you have to blame the players. In this case we can also blame he GM. This is a poorly constructed lakers team with no bench and not many good defensive players. Chasing after big name players beyond their prime rarely leads to a championship. The lakers play will improve when dwight and nash get healthy and they have time to gel. I still don’t see them being able to get out of the western conference much less win it all.

  • pposse

    agree wit yourself homes, i never said that. But Kobe needs to stop playin so damn selfish, the play i described was something Kobe thinks he can get away with but cant. Jumping in the air with the intention to pass, at his age will get him in trouble down the line in this season. You call his play great, i call it same ole same ole, he needs to switch up his game.

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    Bring Derek Fisher in to coach the Lakers. No joke! lol

  • RayJr

    YES! Thank you! No more princeton offense! They should’ve hired Brian Shaw in the first place…now just to cut Steve Blake…

  • Rainman

    ah, thats a whole nother element to it. Touche. But still, dotn u think Dwight cud shut up enough to be a the receiving end of all those pick and rolls and respect a man of Sloans reputation? Sloan is no SVG. And i can only hope that Dwight has learned his lesson from all that stuff lol, no?

  • Rainman

    He is great with his back to the basket dude…

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Kobe’s played well so far this season. This isn’t on him. He’s 34. Only playing for championships. They have to bring in a coach that he wants to play for. They never said a word to him before they hired Mike Brown. Bad decision.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    it would take longer than a few days to implement that FLEX offense. Without a training camp, i doubt the offense would be strong enough to make up for how hard he’ll be on Dwight.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Who hires a coach in LA without talking with Kobe Bryant first? It was all downhill from there.

  • LakeShow

    You call 25ppg on 55% shooting same ole same ole… That’s on you bro.
    Kobe needs to switch up his game? My god your an idiot. Later.

  • MikeC.

    Kids here haven’t read Julius Caesar and have no clue how spot-on that was. Well played.

  • Dymez

    Kobe is officially the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers now.

  • zogs19994

    LAKER FANS STAND UP!!!!!!!!! THANK GOD THIS STUPID TURTLE IS OUT OF L.A
    #THANKGOD

  • Yesse

    Should have hired Brian Shaw. Too late for that i guess. Make Pacers trade coaches, lol.

  • Rainman

    So Mike D’aintoni wud be the best choice, considering all that? Maybe so.

    how does hiring D’aintoni for a year, and dependant on whether he wins a chip or not, let him go and sign Sloan in the offseason so he could have a training camp to instil his full offense? lol only if…

  • pposse

    you think that will keep up? he is shouldering too much..will duncan be 20 and 10 down the line this year, well maybe? but be real %55 shooting, this is all just a flash in the frying pan..5 games and you think thats indicative of what his stats will really be like after 82 games? cmon son, i have 5 years of 82 games prior to this as evidence that that this is not the case..u have 5 games. He needs to switch his game up, dont let fan-dumb (dom) get in the way of your logic.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    uhm yes they did, they went 17 and 11 after they added Shaq (mid-season – which included a 3-6 start…so they finished 14 and 5). — They lost to San Antonio 4-1 but really, after only 28 games with Shaq, you really think any team would have stood a chance?

    .

    And you can look at Phoenix’s record after Terry Porter was fired and the suns re-implemented the SSOL offense with SHaq. They thrived again.

  • shutup

    saw this on ESPN and almost fell out, how funny is this ish?

  • Jc24

    BRING BACK PHIL JACKSON!!!!!

  • oglivy

    cosign. Lakers need to stop using Brown as a scapegoat. He was not the only problem in la. The lakers don`t have the perfect team, not even close. Their O is fine and I think it`s safe to assume that it will be better as time goes on especially when Nash returns. But they do turn the ball over quite a bit, and their best players are the ones who turn the ball over the most: Kobe and Howard. Both of them seem like they`re averaging about 5 turnovers a game. Fact: Howard had the same turnover issues in Orlando because he`s never been a good passer ever. Yet the main problem is their D and their bench (or lack their of). Brown is actually defensive-minded coach who has had good defensive teams in Cleveland. The D should be the main concern. I don`t think their D will ever be good enough to win a title.

  • LakeShow

    What is this evidence? That he can only win chips every 3 years of his career with his playing style? Not following man. You aren’t making any points your just spewing hate.

  • KipSmithers

    Too early. At least let Nash come back and try to learn how to run the offense.

  • Rainman

    17-11 isnt all that great considering where PHX stood with Marion on the team instead of Shaq. it was actually acleat step back.

    and the reason the idea was ever put forward to slow it down was to have Shaq as a prominent part of the offense. It didnt really work out great at all. i dont think they thrved at all tbh.that was one of the most frustrating times to be a PHX Suns fan. Yeah, they did thrive when they began running again after switching to Gentry (it wasnt SSOL at all btw) but since when does Shaq run? in reality they thrived when they took the ball OUT of Shaq’s hands.

  • shutup

    Excuse #1 is gone for a failed season, so who is Kobe going to blame next? Better protect your neck Dwight Howard, getting dunked on and getting your ish tossed at the rim, and still smiling? lmao. Hope they get Sloan in there so at least Dwight will stop smiling, the only one that I think get can get other players to eat Kobe’s ish and stay happy is Phil Jackson, I would love to see Brian Shaw step up and do a great job, besides Nash it would give me a reason to secretly root for the Lakers, behind the Spurs then Miami, and OKC .

  • oglivy

    If the lakers continue to struggle. Nash`s injury will be the next excuse.

  • initbruv

    We all have to read Shakespeare man. Not just you.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    its a 7% drop in win % with no training camp. And a 74% win percentage after the initial 9 game stretch (which is 7% higher than it was with Marion) They thrived.

    .

    “but since when does Shaq run? in reality they thrived when they took the ball OUT of Shaq’s hands.” – the point was, the team thrived without a “fast” lineup. Just like it would in LA.

  • LakeShow

    I actually missed Kobe blaming Mike Brown. Can you link me? I’ll wait.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    oh and, I live in Phoenix, and had season tickets that year. I know exactly what it was like to be a Suns “fan” and watch every game.

  • mo

    Didn’t Mike Brown took the Cavs to NBA champion ship? or was it KING JAMES

  • shutup

    Reports on ESPN is that Kobe didn’t want to hire MIke Brown in the first place and after the death stare last game obv he wasn’t happy with his coaching. Here is article that expresses the same sentiment, or just watch Steven A Smith on espn. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/21-kobe-bryants-who-definitely-got-mike-brown-fire

  • pposse

    when is the last time god i mean kobe shot %50 of from the field? oh thats right, he NEVER did. Stay on point. You say kobe looks great, i say get real, its 5 games. Your over here boasting about his %55 shooting average like that ever sustained for one season in his NBA life. Im spewing hate? Child please!, the euphoria you are feeling from the mike brown firing is clouding your judgment. I can argue with you that this early high fg% is a bad thing, cause im pretty sure (can’t be for certain) that Kobe will look at the percentages too and think that he should be shooting more. I really don’t think that Kobe dropping 30ppg in the regular season will translate to victories in the playoffs. He needs to play 82 games where he is either in cruise control or in the backseat so he is refreshed and ready for the playoffs this time. Until he does that, and wins these regular season games in that fashion, he will be the same old kobe. And stop, sure kobe won every 3 years but be real, he has always had a superior squad.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    if you talk to people that were close to the Cavs, they will ALL tell you, Mike Brown did not coach a single game for the Cavs.

  • M Cho

    I say hire Stan Van Gundy! :) )

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i don’t think you can keep Dwight happy with Jerry Sloan as his coach. Mike D’Antoni just makes the most sense period. — Other than the Van Gundy’s who really make the most sense, but won’t coach that team.

  • pposse

    if the lakers don’t win it all this year im thinking either they tool up and bring in cp3 or dwight bounces to bk. one way or the other dwight will be playing with a great pg or he will win rings with kobe.

  • RowdyTexan

    http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/11/kobe-bryant-says-hes-mike-browns-biggest-supporter/
    Kobe is a great politician…you know he was the reason Mike B got fired!

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