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Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown was exiled from his position after just five games this season. His consistency and defensive-minded approach were bypassed in order to hire current head coach Mike D’Antoni.
For every reason Brown was fired in Los Angeles makes him an interesting fit with a familiar team: the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Rumors surfaced earlier this season that departed superstar LeBron James — now with the Miami Heat — had made amends with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who once cursed the best player in the world for deserting Cleveland. At the time, Gilbert was quoted saying Cleveland would win a championship before James would with Miami.
Well, that didn’t exactly work out. James and the Heat are the reigning NBA champions and are currently the favorite to win again this season. But people from James’ entourage have said that James has expressed interest in returning to Cleveland once he becomes a free agent.
Enter: Brown.
Cleveland is looking for a new head coach, after firing Byron Scott this week, to manage budding franchise guard Kyrie Irving and a franchise on a slippery decline.
Is it possible that James and Brown will reunite in Cleveland in 2014? Maybe, maybe not.
Among the possible coaches to fill the Cavaliers’ vacancy are Avery Johnson, Scott Skiles, Stan Van Gundy and Mike Dunleavy, who’s always up for a new job. Many well known assistant coaches (I.e. Brian Shaw) will also be included in the coaching search.
Gilbert is very hands-on with his team, and Browns’ previous relationships with Cavs general manager Chris Grant and the owner could make him the favorite in the coaching hunt.
It’s still unseen whether resigning Brown would help bring James back to Cleveland, as he seems fairly content with the power-house Heat. It should also be noted that with Kobe Bryant‘s reign as king in Los Angeles coming to an end, Lakers fans are beginning to call for James to assume the thrown out west.
When the UCLA Bruins were searching for a new coach, I felt Brown would be a perfect fit for the college game. He is a hard working, defensive coach who likes to mold players. Perfect for college basketball. Nevertheless, Brown’s name will continue to surface with every coaching vacancy in the NBA.
John Engel is a Pac-12 college basketball writer for Rant Sports and also works for ESPNLA 710 AM radio in Los Angeles. Follow John on Twitter: @engelsportsguy.
