The Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Mike Brown after a sub-par 1-4 start to the NBA season.
This news comes a mere 48 hours after Lakers executive vice-president Jim Buss gave Brown a vote of confidence which makes this announcement a little more surprising than expected.
Current assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will take interim charge of the team as they face Golden State tonight while already a list of replacements have been thrown out the hat early; most notably former New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni and ex-Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.
Despite announcing his retirement and stating that he has no desire to come back, former Lakers coach and Hall of Famer Phil Jackson is on the list, also.
TNT’s David Aldridge had reported that Brown’s departure came from the club owner Jerry Buss, not his son Jim. Aldridge also reported that none of the players, including Kobe Bryant had anything to do with this decision.
Mike Brown’s first season was a shortened 66-game year due to the NBA Lockout, but the Lakers still managed to finish top of the Pacific Division with a 41-25 record, one game better than their same city rivals, the LA Clippers. They finished third overall in the Western Conference, but lost in the semi-finals of the Playoffs to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
So far, the Lakers under Brown this season have lost all eight of their pre-season games and are currently 1-4 in the regular season with that one win coming against Detroit.
