Lakers Fire Mike Brown After 5 Games!?

Well that didn’t take long.  Despite vehemently denying that it was time to push the panic button, the Lakers waited just 5 games to fire head coach Mike Brown.

The Lakers have started the season off at 1-4 after extremely high offseason expectations due to the acquisitions of stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.  In the standings, the Lakers are currently located at the bottom of the Western Conference, despite having the League’s largest payroll.

It seemed as though entering the season everyone was aware that it may take the team some time to fully form together, as they had added a plethora of new parts. However, Lakers ownership has already run out of patience.  Despite having Steve Nash healthy for only one complete game, and the lack of time these new players have had to get acclimated to the system, Lakers management had apparently already lost all faith in Mike Brown, and felt that it was time to make a move. 

Everyone knew that Mike was on a short leash entering the season, but this is still surprising.  5 games??  The guy didn’t even have an opportunity to sport his entire repertoire of suits for the season yet.

Sure the offense looked a little shaky, but the team was dealing with 2 new starters, a sub-par bench and injury issues. 

Kobe isn’t ageless, and now the Lakers are looking at the prospect of spending an entire season under the tutelage of an interim coach.  Names like Chuck Person and Bernie Bickerstaff are being thrown around in an attempt to return the ship to its Championship course.

The season is still in its infantile stages, and the West is wide open, so the Lakers are far from eliminated.  In fact, there are many that would still pick them as championship favorites. 

The Lakers had a lot of issues to work out under Mike Brown, and his firing has opened a whole new set of obstacles.  Luckily, the Lakers have more time to address and correct these issues than Mike Brown was granted.  It will be interesting to see where the team goes from here.

Any chance Kobe brings back the role of player/coach?  Now THAT would be fun to watch.  Or anyone else thinking about a tall coach that already has 11 NBA titles?  You should probably stay by the phone, Phil.

 

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