Coaching the best player in the league should be a dream job. But was Mike Brown set up for failure by teaming up with LeBron James in Cleveland?
Brown — fired by the Cavaliers on Monday — leaves with the highest winning percentage (.663) in team history. He led Cleveland to the best record in the NBA the past two seasons and won the Eastern Conference in 2007 with Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic in the starting lineup. But Brown’s failure to bring the Cavaliers their first title in franchise history cost him his job.
Wasn’t Brown in a lose-lose situation anyway?
If Cleveland won the championship this season, the credit would have been given to the league’s two-time MVP with general manger Danny Ferry garnering recognition for assembling an All-Star roster of Shaquille O’Neal, Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams.
After losing to Boston in the second round, criticism of LeBron was short lived as headlines shifted to what failing franchise with cap space will be saved by the most highly anticipated free agent in NBA history.
And Ferry (whose contract is up this summer) remains employed while Brown takes the heat for not winning with a roster compiled of aging stars.
Sure, Brown had a questionable rotation and slowed down the pace too much for LeBron — the Cavs averaged the third fewest shots per game. But it was inevitable that Brown would be the sacrificial lamb if Cleveland failed to win a title.
So who is the right fit to coach the King?
Ideally, LeBron would be paired with an experienced, championship-caliber coach respected around the league. With only four current coaches with titles, that list is not very long.
Phil Jackson could go back to Chicago. Larry Brown is never opposed to making a coaching change. And LeBron would defer to Coach K after the Hall of Famer led Team USA to Olympic gold.
But anyone outside the list of legendary coaches must be aware that it’s championship or bust with LeBron. He’s the “Chosen One” and you’ll just be the one chosen to take the blame.
