Lakers fire head coach Mike Brown
Following a less than stellar 1-4 start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Mike Brown, according to ESPN. As of early Friday, it looked like Brown would have a six-game homestand to turn things around while being evaluated, but the management came to a unanimous decision to remove Brown sooner rather than later.
The Lakers have a winning mentality, and this is sticking with the idea that succeeding immediately is their first priority, especially after adding Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to the roster over the summer.
Getting rid of Brown now is a financial hit to the Lakers because he was only in the second year of his four-year, $18 million deal.
The firing is still a shock, even considering the Lakers have gotten off to the worst start in the Western Conference. And that’s with the largest payroll coming in at just over $100 million.
While the team has been trying out a new offensive system with the hopes of taking some of the burden off Kobe Bryant, the defense has been suffering – and that’s Brown’s specialty. The team went 0-8 during the preseason for the first time in franchise history before stumbling into the regular season with an 0-3 start. After finally winning last Sunday, the Lakers lost again to Utah Wednesday.
Maybe Brown could have turned it around, but it looks like the Laker management wasn’t willing to keep him around to find out.
