NBA Rumors: Mike Brown Reportedly An ‘Emerging Candidate’ For Clippers Coaching Job
According to a new report, erstwhile Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown appears to have stepped up as a favorite to become the Los Angeles Clippers‘ new coach. This comes two weeks after the organization parted ways with Doc Rivers, who has since filled the Philadelphia 76ers’ head coaching vacancy.
On Saturday, Marc Stein of The New York Times tweeted that Brown has become an “emerging candidate” to replace Rivers on the Clippers, thanks to the “strong impression” he made during his interview. Prior to the new development, Tyronn Lue was the “early favorite” to get the job, though he still appears to have some options, as he is reportedly scheduled for an interview with the Houston Rockets early next week.
As noted by NBC Sports Bay Area, Brown served as an assistant to Steve Kerr on the Warriors’ staff for the last four seasons, but has several years of experience as a head coach. The 50-year-old spent five full seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 through 2010, where he coached a young LeBron James.
One year after the Cavs fired him, he coached the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2011-12 season. He was fired just five games into the 2012-13 campaign after the team won just one game during that stretch.
In addition to those stints, Brown also led Golden State to a 12-0 postseason record in 2017 while filling in for Kerr, who was sidelined with back problems, per CBS Sports. The outlet stressed that there might be some questions as to whether he enjoyed so much success in Kerr’s absence due to the Warriors’ star-studded lineup and whether the supporting players on his Cavs and Lakers teams failed him and contributed to his firing from both organizations.
According to his Basketball Reference page, Brown has a career record of 347-216 in regular-season play and a 47-36 record in postseason games. Prior to his stint with Cleveland, he spent seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, and Indiana Pacers.
In the event Brown gets hired by the Clippers, he will be mentoring a team that failed to go beyond the second round in this year’s playoffs despite the offseason acquisitions of superstar forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
During their Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles blew a 3-1 lead, losing three straight games as rumors began to swirl regarding dissension within the team. One such report suggested that George had an argument with Sixth Man of the Year winner Montrezl Harrell over who was responsible for a turnover during Game 2 of the Nuggets series.
