According to a report out of the USA Today, the Lakers have fired head coach Mike Brown after a 1-4 start to the season. The move has also been confirmed by Brown’s agent Warren Legarie.
Brown was in his second season with the Lakers after going 41-25 last season and a second round playoff exit to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After an offseason that saw the signing of free agent Steve Nash and the arrival of Dwight Howard via trade the Lakers once again had high expectations entering the season. In the five games played the team clearly had trouble picking up Brown’s Princeton-based offense and lagged tremendously on defense.
There’s no word on who takes over the team in the long run as the they will host the Golden State Warriors from the Staples Center tonight. Phil Jackson’s name has already been thrown out there as a replacement as well as Stan Van Gundy which doesn’t seem probable if the Lakers hope to keep Dwight Howard long-term. What does seem clear though is this is a team that cannot be successful with just any coach.
UPDATE: Assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will coach the team on an interim basis tonight against the Warriors.
h/t: USA Today
