5 things to know about Mike Brown
Mike Brown as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013. Credit: Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox
1. Student of the game
Brown has coached 758 regular-season games and 90 postseason games, but he also has learned from some of the best — serving as an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle and Steve Kerr.
2. Man of the world
Brown was born in Columbus, Ohio, and with his father serving in the Air Force, he moved to bases across the United States, Japan and Germany, graduating high school in Wurzburg, Germany, before returning to the US to attend college and play basketball, first at Mesa Community College in Arizona and then for two seasons at San Diego.
3. Leading legends
When he was hired for his first head coaching job, he inherited a third-year phenom just rising to stardom — LeBron James — and helped foster that growth for five seasons. He then went to the Lakers where he had Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol near the end of their careers.
4. Compiling rings
He has not won a championship as a head coach. The closest he came was in 2006-07 when the Cavs reached the Finals in his second season. But he has been on the staff of four championship teams — one with the San Antonio Spurs and three with Golden State.
5. History making
Brown is respected throughout the league, but he made a bit of history by being let go just five games into the season by the Lakers in the 2012-13 season — the third fastest firing of a coach in NBA history.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
