Well, That Was Fast: Mike Brown and the Lakers Have a Deal – 4 years, $18 Million
About 17 hours after Yahoo reported the Lakers were suddenly closing in on former Cavs’ coach Mike Brown to replace Phil Jackson … the deal’s done. Chris Broussard of ESPN reports Brown is getting a 4-year, $18 million deal. The 4th year of the deal is optional – if the Lakers don’t exercise it, Brown will get $2.5 million.
It’s tough to gauge Brown on his brief career as a head coach – he knows defense, that much is clear; but whether or not he’ll be able to ignite a Lakers’ offense that fizzled in the postseason remains a question. Did it help Brown that he had LeBron at his first stop? How much credit does Brown get for taking a young LeBron and a bunch of spare parts to the NBA Finals? Or did LeBron carry Brown?
Earlier, SI reported that Kobe was surprised he wasn’t part of the decision-making process. Now, Kobe’s supposedly on board. I have a feeling this hiring will end spectacularly bad, but it’s tough to think about next season with the lockout looming.
Previously: Bill Plaschke Casually Mentions That Kobe Bryant’s Wife Contributed to the Downfall of Pau Gasol
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105 Responses to “Well, That Was Fast: Mike Brown and the Lakers Have a Deal – 4 years, $18 Million”
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May 25th, 2011 at 3:43 PM
Excellent hire. Just think if the Lakers are actually able to swing Dwight Howard what kind of defense this team can play with MB on the bench. Love the hire.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:43 PM
Wait, hold on. Not a great hire because it hasn’t happened yet. I’ll wait until it’s confirmed by a real reporter.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:44 PM
I fully endorse this F U to Laker fans.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:44 PM
i like the hire.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:44 PM
ouch
May 25th, 2011 at 3:46 PM
I think you’re the only one.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:47 PM
This cracks me up. Were ya surprised Kobe? Were ya? How about you play basketball and listen to whoever is the guy with the title of head coach and the people who pay you will worry about who that is. I was totally surprised when my job didnt ask for my input on who is gonna be my boss. fucking really?
May 25th, 2011 at 3:47 PM
Cavs’ fans who saw Brown a lot – Spencer – your thoughts?
May 25th, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Count me in the excellent hire camp
/Team Fuck the Lakers
May 25th, 2011 at 3:48 PM
I am perplexed. WTF is with NBA GMs trying to prove that their the smartest guys in the room. I expect this type of decision from Kahn, but now you have Ainge trading a starter on a Championship-ready team and now Kupchek forcing the offensively challenged Brown on a team that had trouble scoring. This blows.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:49 PM
So why not Shaw?
May 25th, 2011 at 3:49 PM
perkins was a scrappy grindah! never has a average role player been more overvalued than perkins good lord
May 25th, 2011 at 3:50 PM
i was harsh on him, but in hindsight, i was overly critical. great defensive coach but needs a helping hand on offense.
the one thing im not sure about is how much of an influence lebron had over the lockerroom. i got the sense the team respected and listened to brown, but everyone looked to lebron when it mattered. hard to be a coach in that kind of situation.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:50 PM
Basketball related, anyone see Bargnani’s comments?
/he’s already said he was taken out of context
May 25th, 2011 at 3:53 PM
I think the parallels will be drawn with Kobe but I just don’t see it happening. Kobe knows he’s on his way down and needs help if he wants to get that 6th title to tie MJ.
Curious to see if MB can get Gasol to play better defense. Thibs couldn’t even get Boozer to do it, awaiting to see what a full summer’s work will do for him though. Like I said though, if the Lakers get Dwight… look the fuck out. This team will be a defensive juggernaut.
Speaking of which, irish was on the Twitter machine saying that he thinks this hurts LA’s chances with D12. Anyone else have thoughts?
May 25th, 2011 at 3:53 PM
Not sure about this one, in my opinion defense translates into effort….I mean I dont think MB is going to coach Fisher how to stay in front of a point guard…
May 25th, 2011 at 3:54 PM
I’m confused about the hire. I get the defensive improvement that is inevitable, but Brown’s offense sucks balls. There’s too many isos and that’s the last thing LA needs. Does this mean that Brown will be bringing his band of assistants or are Shaw/Person/Hablem, etc still under contract.
Shaw not getting hired is surprising, but the Lakers problem was defensive more than O anyway and the Triangle wasn’t gonna fix that.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:54 PM
to be fair, gasol is a professional while boozer is a spoiled primadonna.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:55 PM
Kupchak had literally no say in the hire, this was all Jim Buss. I thought the search would have been considered for more than 2 weeks. WTF?
May 25th, 2011 at 3:55 PM
I’m never a fan of recycling coaches who seem to underperform — regardless of sport. On another note, I like how Mike Brown coached his son’s middle school team between the Cavs and Lakers.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:55 PM
While both fruit, apples and oranges share many differences
May 25th, 2011 at 3:56 PM
I’m still shocked that Byron Scott didn’t even get an interview.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:56 PM
/Kobe grabs the board from Brown
/puts one X on the board
“Thats me. Get me the ball”
/shoots 30/90 for 90 pts
May 25th, 2011 at 3:57 PM
Hey, who wants to cry at their desk??
May 25th, 2011 at 3:57 PM
I was totally surprised when my job didnt ask for my input on who is gonna be my boss. fucking really?
This is not the WWE/WWF…
May 25th, 2011 at 3:57 PM
Everything I hear out here in laker land is Jerry Buss was not a fan of the triangle and wanted to go back to showtime.
/explains Shaw non hire
//but makes Brown hire more perplexing
May 25th, 2011 at 3:58 PM
smart move on their part.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:58 PM
what’s the rule on coaches under contract?
May 25th, 2011 at 3:59 PM
I don’t think he could get out of his contract without some sort of compensation from the Lakers or something.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:59 PM
smart move on their part.
all right I’ll bite, how so?
May 25th, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Cavs wouldn’t let the Lake Show talk to him until the season was over.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Hey, who wants to cry at their desk??
Wow — that’s heavy.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:01 PM
Not me, so not clicking that. What is it? Give me the cliff notes please.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:02 PM
What world do you live in?
May 25th, 2011 at 4:02 PM
The Lakers management is quite out of touch if it thinks that Mike fucking Brown will bring show time back with a roster of 30+ year olds. Good luck.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:03 PM
I thought the Cavs wouldn’t let him interview AT ALL? This stuff about Scott didn’t come up until after the Lakers were bounced, and the Cavs were already well on their way to “winning” the lottery…
May 25th, 2011 at 4:03 PM
Not me, so not clicking that. What is it? Give me the cliff notes please.
Tornado victim describes how her husband lay on top of her and sheltered her from the storm while he died.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:03 PM
I don’t think he could get out of his contract without some sort of compensation from the Lakers or something.
Put those 4 second rounders to good use
May 25th, 2011 at 4:04 PM
One where he’s just as irreplaceable to his organization as Kobe Bryant is it would appear
May 25th, 2011 at 4:04 PM
Not me, so not clicking that. What is it? Give me the cliff notes please.
Brian Williams is sitting on a porch with some woman in her 20′s. She survived b\c her husband was covering her as glass/debris was flying around them during the tornado. He died, she lived. Video is about 90 seconds long.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:04 PM
I don’t get it. And Jim Buss scares the living shit out of me.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:04 PM
the real world…you should try it
May 25th, 2011 at 4:05 PM
im pretty sure mike brown’s hire means lakers management wants to go in the polar opposite direction.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:06 PM
O/U on games before a Kobe meltdown?
May 25th, 2011 at 4:06 PM
Thanks for the summary, glad I didn’t click it. Nice story, but way too depressing for this guy.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:06 PM
oh fuck off…it’s just a teensy piece of karmic justice that the cavs get the no. 1 in one of the worst drafts of the decade. let us have our tiny slice of pie, ok?
May 25th, 2011 at 4:07 PM
This doesn’t really compute, big dawg.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:07 PM
Oprah probably got more input into this hire than Kobe.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:08 PM
the real world…you should try it
/WWE Fan’d
May 25th, 2011 at 4:09 PM
TJ:
Jared Loughner, the guy who killed 6 and wounded 13 including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January, ruled not competent to stand trial.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:09 PM
meh…worse comes to worse, MB knows how to operate when the team’s star is doing most of the coaching.
he’s like a better defensive version of jim caldwell.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Kobe is paid that much to happily play basketball no matter who his coach is not to make hiring and firing decisions. his paycheck doesnt give him say so in anything. as long as it is on time he shoujld only worry about putting the ball in the basket until then shut the fuck up.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:10 PM
any word on the punishment congressmen are going to receive for not being competent enough to hold office?
May 25th, 2011 at 4:10 PM
I’m reading that thread where TBL supports the notion that Kobe’s wife is responsible for Gasol’s play (nevermind the fact that he’s a professional who should just do his fucking job). Hilarious comments.
It only took coop about 30 comments before chiming in with “….and Lebron’s the bad one!?!?!”
May 25th, 2011 at 4:10 PM
meh…worse comes to worse, MB knows how to operate when the team’s star is doing most of the coaching.
he’s like a better defensive version of jim caldwell.
Thanks. a. lot.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:11 PM
Then you should realize that hall of fame athletes don’t.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:12 PM
while i agree with this in a macro sense, when you have a certain skill that only a small, small percentage of your peers have (who have skills that only a small, small percentage of humanity has), you get a little more power than your everyday work drone who’s easily replaceable.
don’t like it, but that’s the way it is.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:12 PM
Jared Loughner, the guy who killed 6 and wounded 13 including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January, ruled not competent to stand trial.
I read this earlier — apparently dude starting yelling while in court. Let’s just save everyone the time, resources and aggravation and execute.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:12 PM
hey, i like the move, honestly. i think yall are being too harsh…defense is the name of the game in today’s NBA.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:13 PM
ty_webb…also, caldwell got the colts within a lazy reggie wayne route of winning a champ, so that’s not nearly as bad a comparison as you think.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:14 PM
loughner should be put to death..not competent to stand trial is fucking ridiculous..he killed 6 people. end him
May 25th, 2011 at 4:14 PM
Terrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrible.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:14 PM
hey, i like the move, honestly. i think yall are being too harsh…defense is the name of the game in today’s NBA.
meh…i’m on the fence, I was refering to the “Jim Caldwell” reference
May 25th, 2011 at 4:14 PM
great fucking hire by the lakers.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:15 PM
loughner should be put to death..not competent to stand trial is fucking ridiculous..he killed 6 people. end him
Agreed.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:15 PM
Well at least he’s not Mike Dunleavy.
/not exactly a ringing endorsement
May 25th, 2011 at 4:16 PM
carl nicks, who? he sucks.
/tbl’d
May 25th, 2011 at 4:16 PM
Magic Johnson got a coach fired, as did Michael Jordan. Kobe having input isn’t that crazy a concept
May 25th, 2011 at 4:16 PM
Wasn’t the name Mike Dunleavy bandied about for this job as well?
I would probably prefer Mike Brown to Mike Dunleavy. Let it play out.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:16 PM
loughner should be put to death..not competent to stand trial is fucking ridiculous..he killed 6 people. end him
Is he ever going to get better? Nope.
So he will be a burden on society and a threat should he ever be out? Yep.
End him.
at least he’s not Mike Dunleavy.
At least he’s not Isiah Thomas
/one up
May 25th, 2011 at 4:16 PM
I don’t think he expected to change management’s decision, he doesn’t have that type of power. But letting the star player know (when he actually cares enough to want to know) about who the coach is that’s replacing someone who’s coached the Lakers for 11 out of 12 years would be a smart heads up, no?
This Lakers team has Phil’s DNA all over them (insert giggle here). From the way that they think “even keel”, to the way that they communicate, and it starts with Kobe and Fish. Good luck to Mike Brown.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:17 PM
Well at least he’s not Mike Dunleavy.
/not exactly a ringing endorsement
true, if they would have hired Dunleavy or Van Gundy, I would have had to become a hockey fan or something
May 25th, 2011 at 4:17 PM
any word on the punishment congressmen are going to receive for not being competent enough to hold office?
They get to run for president.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:17 PM
LOL
May 25th, 2011 at 4:18 PM
I think Jim Buss saw Shaw as more of the same as Phil Jackson.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:18 PM
[Gravatar image]
carl nicks, who? he sucks.
/tbl’d
That’s Super Bowl ring owner Carl Nicks.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:18 PM
All for it. And let’s save money too, don’t put him on death row and let him wait 10 years and give him an injection. Just give all the victims’ family guns, blindfold them, and have at it.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:18 PM
It’s nice to have new ownership in Warriors-land, hopefully the owners can deliver on this “contract”…
May 25th, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Fuck em. Trade em.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:19 PM
CJ, I’ve heard a ton of stories like that living so close to it. can’t comprehend what the residents of that area are going through.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:19 PM
It’s 2011, there’s 24/7 social media, and everything Kobe says/does is controversial.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:19 PM
The team that plays in Staples Center ain’t bad you know.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:22 PM
Hey SC: No Utley tonight.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:23 PM
So in The Clev Brown had almost no input on the offense, which I always found a little strange. He often didnt even lead timeouts, which again was odd. Wonder if/who he keeps on the current staff and if he’ll do the same.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:24 PM
All of this. He is a silver spooner with possibly no basketball acumen whatsoever. I think I’d rather have Jeannie running the team. She at least was willing to bang Phil to keep him around. That’s a team player!
May 25th, 2011 at 4:25 PM
Fuck em. Trade em.
No, I was thinking this
May 25th, 2011 at 4:26 PM
Nice. I took him out earlier but glad it’s confirmed now. Figured it had to be with a lefty out there and two straight days. At least he got a hit last night.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:27 PM
So is every Laker fan, too bad it won’t happen.
/prays that it won’t happen
May 25th, 2011 at 4:27 PM
Come on Webb, If you want to win with Kobe still bynum makes the most sense. But he is Buss’ boy so that probably won’t happen.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:28 PM
did anyone watch the video that came on after that one? This woman said strangers were pilfering through her dead grandmother’s destroyed house. People are fucking assholes.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:28 PM
No, I was thinking this
So is every Laker fan, too bad it won’t happen.
/prays that it won’t happen
how about Gasol and 4 2nd round picks in the 2011 draft and #1′s in 2012 & 2013 ?!?!?!?
May 25th, 2011 at 4:29 PM
The Crew win their 13th out of their last 16.
NL Central Champs here we come!!!
May 25th, 2011 at 4:30 PM
Come on Webb, If you want to win with Kobe still bynum makes the most sense. But he is Buss’ boy so that probably won’t happen.
I was going to package Bynum in the Chris Paul deal…..
/Lakers are fucked
May 25th, 2011 at 4:30 PM
Tell you the truth I don’t know who I’d choose to coach this team. I know it isn’t Adelman, Dunleavy, or Byron Scott. And Shaw, Van Gundy and Brown don’t exactly make my penis move.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:30 PM
You can’t be shocked by this can you? It happens during every natural disaster, there are always people looking to come up on others’ misfortunes. We live in a shitty world.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:31 PM
send that crazy ass to texas, we will kill his ass fast.
/spits, feeds stereotype
May 25th, 2011 at 4:31 PM
did anyone watch the video that came on after that one? This woman said strangers were pilfering through her dead grandmother’s destroyed house. People are fucking assholes.
unfortunately not surprising…
/team people are fucking assholes
May 25th, 2011 at 4:32 PM
hold up for a second…and let me play devil’s advocate…
if my entire CITY was destroyed by a natural disaster, id pretty much do whatever i can to survive. if they were stealing jewelry or something, that’d be one thing, but how do we know they weren’t looking for food/water or survivors or warm clothing?
keep in mind i didn’t watch the video.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:32 PM
Truth’d x 1000.
There’s always someone out there willing to take advantage of people no matter what situation theyre in.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:32 PM
his paycheck doesn’t, but his influence does. Influence works everywhere in this real world you speak of but know little about.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:34 PM
did anyone watch the video that came on after that one? This woman said strangers were pilfering through her dead grandmother’s destroyed house. People are fucking assholes.
You can’t be shocked by this can you? It happens during every natural disaster, there are always people looking to come up on others’ misfortunes. We live in a shitty world.
“Bunch of savages in this town”.
/Randall’d.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:37 PM
Erik Spolestra being a win away from the Finals is proof enough that someone like Mike Brown can lead the Lakers. But then again, the West is significantly more challenging.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:38 PM
This isn’t college, coaches under contract can’t just jump jobs. The Cavs said no to the Lakers, and that was the end of the story.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:59 PM
that’d be one thing, but how do we know they weren’t looking for food/water or survivors or warm clothing?
Well, that’s what the red cross is for, isn’t it? They had shelters set up that night. I don’t think that was an issue at all.
May 25th, 2011 at 5:48 PM
The Heat are running most of the same sets that the Cavs did with Brown. They really are. It’s just a bit different when it’s LeBron and Wade on the floor with Bosh. Always thought the bashing of Brown’s offense was ridiculous. What team isn’t running isos at the end of games for their star player? Did you see the Bulls last night?