If anything the NBA has proven to me in the last couple of weeks now is that it is completely dominated by the players and most NBA coaches are really just pawns for the most part making little to none significant impact on a team. Mike Brown is the ultimate pawn in the NBA and he was shown the door yesterday evening as the Cleveland Cavaliers fired him in hopes that they could bring back LeBron James.
Do I think that is highly unfair that players dictate what happens in the coaching realm? Yeah a bit, but I think basketball is a sport where the players can cover up your mistakes better than any professional sport. The decision making that is made in professional football and baseball is much more coach-oriented than in professional basketball. I have said many times that LeBron single-handily kept Brown employed for all these years because if he didn't have him, Brown would be still looking for a job.
To me, Brown looks clueless out there most of the time and I really feel like LeBron is more of a coach out there running things his way. Brown agrees with him and let's things happen James' way. That is fine and dandy in the regular season because sadly, the NBA teams give lackluster efforts from time to time and the intensity really isn't there until playoff time. The Cavs were a great regular season team due to getting to feast on the likes of the Detroit Pistons, New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards, and so on. Those teams had no answer for LeBron and company, it was only when the good teams who get upwards to seven games against the Cavs where Brown became exposed.
The playoffs forced Brown to coach and that was something he frankly didn't excel at in the top spot. It seemed like he made too many quick decisions and wanted to appease the players more than he actually wanted to do things. The perfect example is J.J. Hickson. He started 43 games for the Cavs where they went 39-4, which to me shows a good chemistry when Hickson is on the floor. Then when Shaq comes back, Hickson's minutes fell faster than Snooki's dress after meeting a juicehead. It didn't make any sense to me and others, why get rid of the things Hickson did all year?
As for the Cavs, this doesn't do much for LeBron in my estimate. They will tell him "LBJ, you get 30 million more and you can pick your coach, is that something you might be interested in?" This is an awful idea because Cleveland will get another pawn that LeBron and the Cavs will be able to control with what they want to do and not someone who will put their foot down to LeBron and others. I believe there are about 5 coaches who will demand respect... Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, and Scott Skiles (I know it seems rash to put Skiles in a category with legends but the man is a hard ass).
In Brown's case, he will get a job somewhere else this year and I will be interested to see how well he does. I think the Clippers (assuming they do not partake in the LBJ sweepstakes), Nets, and Hornets are all places that Brown could land a job in because his resume looks the best compared to the other candidates out there. Some team will say they just want to get the playoffs and they could care less about the NBA Finals, therefore they bring in Brown. Even though his in-game coaching isn't great, he still can will a team to low seed in the playoffs.
Every team in the LeBron Sweepstakes is trying to find that perfect coach that will woo LeBron there and everybody is looking to make Mr. James, the happiest NBA player. I think LeBron wants a guy he respects and not some cheeseball like Terry Stotts running things but in all honesty, I think whoever the coach will have little to none impact on LBJ's decision.
-Charlie.
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