Mike Brown Says He Hopes the Los Angeles Lakers Win

The man was fired just five games into the season, but his bank account is healthy, and he’s happy to spend more time around his family. Mike Brown also says that he hopes his former team wins. Per the LA Times: “How are you DOING?’ he asks happily Wednesday, as if there’s nothing in his life that would hint at loss of job, loss of camaraderie, loss of Lakers. The franchise’s 22nd coach seemed perfectly fine with what has happened in his life since Nov. 9, the day he arrived at the office, was pulled out of a meeting with assistant coaches and told by General Manager Mitch Kupchak he no longer worked for the Lakers. They were 1-4 at the time. Brown was surely surprised, though he tried not to sound like it in his first interview since the firing. ‘I tell you what, I had a lot of really nice phone calls from around the league that day,’ Brown said. ‘Front-office people, other coaches, stuff like that. It always helps when your peers call and help you get through a time like this.’ Does Brown miss it? Of course he does. But maybe not as much as expected. It helps that he’s still going to earn $10 million. He had another full year on his Lakers contract after this one and a partial guarantee in 2014-15. He’s not hurting for money. And he’s not dying to watch every Lakers game. ‘I still have a fondness for all the guys on the team. I really enjoyed working with all of them,’ Brown said. ‘The coaching staff was unbelievable, in my opinion. I hope they win. In terms of watching them, it does not intrigue me enough to watch them. I guess I just don’t feel like I have a need to do it. But I hope they do well because these are people I work with and care about. I learned so much from working with Kobe [Bryant] and I hope he learned something working with me.'”