http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55503-2003May29.html May 29 The Washington Wizards have approached Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown about becoming their president of basketball operations and head coach. Brown, however, has so far declined to entertain overtures because Doug Collins remains under contract as the team's coach, sources said. Brown, 62, cancelled a meeting with the Wizards that was scheduled for this morning after making contact Wednesday with Pollin or O'Malley. Brown has not ruled out future conversations with the Wizards but he won't meet with them while Collins, a friend, is still employed by the team. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/06/01/mccallum_brown/ June 01 According to a team source, the Pistons were not considering a coaching change until Brown announced he was leaving the Philadelphia 76ers after six seasons. Once management determined Brown would take the job, Carlisle was let go. According to the source, the Pistons would not have fired Carlisle for anyone other than Brown. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Larry Brown (LB) is my first choice to be our coach and I would feel disappointed whoever will be named other than LB. However, it seems that LB contradicted himself by the articles above. He refused to meet Wizards while his friend, doug collins, is still employed. Then Wizards fired Doug Collins almost immediately in order to open the door for the pursuit of LB. On the other hand, assuming the source of CNNSI is correct (which is very logical according to the timing of the incidents), LB met or even reached an agreement with pistons while Carlisle was still employed. So, is LB is a hypocrite?
From today's Philadelphia Inquirer. Note the LB coaching summary at the end of the article. John Smallwood | Pistons will have some explaining to do By John Smallwood smallwj@phillynews.com It will be interesting to hear what Larry Brown says today if indeed there is a news conference introducing him as the new head coach of the Detroit Pistons. If nothing else, Brown - who reportedly agreed to a 5-year deal with the Pistons - always comes up with creative, if not wholly believable, explanations for why his next job is always a better fit than one he just left. And now that the traveling man will be holding one of these "Heeeerrre's Larry" introductions for the 10th time, he should be a master at spinning the bull. Brown will have to be at his best today because a lot of things smell rotten about this. Sure, the Pistons, who lost to New Jersey in the Eastern Conference finals, fit LB's stated criterion of wanting to coach a team with a chance to win right away, but this is weird even by his standards. It was Detroit's whipping of the Sixers in the conference semifinals that initiated Brown's departure from Philadelphia. Talk about pouring salt into an open wound. For a guy who always preaches the virtues of loyalty, commitment, and doing things the right way, Brown makes a lot of exceptions when those standards are being applied to him. Here's a guy who has been known to complain about how other coaches were callously fired, yet he was apparently negotiating with Detroit while Rick Carlisle still had his job. In fact, SportsIllustrated.com reported that a source within the Pistons organization said they weren't considering a coaching change until Brown quit the Sixers, and didn't fire Carlisle until they knew for sure that Brown would take the job. I guess $25 million, which Brown will reportedly get over the next 5 years, makes it easy to look in the mirror and sleep at night. But betrayal, ethical and decency issues aside, this just doesn't seem to be the type of situation for which Brown is suited. He earned his reputation as "Mr. Fix-it" because he's a guy who comes into bad situations and makes them better. But his reputation is also that of a coach who has never been able to take a team over the top. In 20 NBA seasons, he's never won a title and took only one team - the 2000-01 Sixers - to the Finals. Yet that's exactly what Detroit has hired him to do. Carlisle won 50 games in each of his two seasons and took the Pistons to the conference finals. The only things Brown can possibly do to make this transaction make any sense are take Detroit to the Finals, and win it. Brown, however, has always been most high-strung and unpredictable when the primary focus of his job becomes winning a title. After leading the Denver Nuggets to consecutive first place finishes and a spot in the 1978 Western Conference finals, Brown quit midway through the following season with a 28-25 record. In 1983, a year after taking the New Jersey Nets to the playoffs, Brown quit with six games left in the season. The Nets were 47-29 at the time. He bailed on the San Antonio Spurs midway through the 1991-92 season despite winning 56 and 55 games in the previous two seasons respectively. He sailed away from the Los Angeles Clippers after the 1992-93 season and two playoff appearances. A 4-year stint with the Indiana Pacers screeched to a halt after two appearances in the Eastern Conference finals left nothing but a trip to the NBA Finals as a measurement of success. He skipped out on the Sixers after five straight playoff appearances and a trip to the 2001 Finals that left fans demanding nothing less than a title. If reports are correct, the Detroit Pistons will hire Larry Brown to get them over the hump to a title. But his history shows it's a situation he usually runs from, not to.
