Well one way or another, if he stays in Cleveland or leaves in free agency LeBron James will have a new coach next season. After five years the Cleveland Cavaliers have announced that 2009 Coach of the Year Mike Brown has been relieved of his duties as head coach.
“After a long and deep analysis of all of the factors that led to the disappointing early ends to our playoff runs over the past two seasons, we concluded that it was time for the Cavaliers to move in a different direction,” said Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert. “The expectations of this organization are very high and, although change always carries an element of risk, there are times when that risk must be taken in an attempt to break through to new, higher levels of accomplishment. This is one of those times.”
This does not come as a surprise to me. My guess is the Cavaliers will be looking to replace Brown with a coach who has a championship pedigree in an attempt to keep LeBron James from bolting for a bigger market such as New York or Chicago. Problem is there are only a handful of those out there. Does Greg Popavich leave San Antonio? No. Does Pat Riley leave Miami? No. However, Phil Jackson is in the last year of his contract with the Lakers. Could he leave Lala Land for Lake Erie? This could get interesting.
