CLEVELAND — Less than two weeks after their stunning, second-round loss to Boston in the playoffs, the Cavaliers fired coach Mike Brown on Monday, an expected move that perhaps indicates the team believes it can re- sign LeBron James, the two-time MVP who can become a free agent July 1.
Brown was the most successful coach in franchise history. In five seasons he led the Cavs to the playoffs every year, to the NBA Finals in 2007 and to 127 wins in the past two seasons. But Brown failed to win a championship, and after Cleveland’s second straight early exodus from the postseason, and with James about to explore free agency, owner Dan Gilbert decided to make a change.
“The expectations of this organization are very high and, although change always carries an element of risk, there are times when that risk must be taken in an attempt to break through to new, higher levels of accomplishment,” Gilbert said. “This is one of those times.”
The Cavaliers were under a deadline to dismiss Brown, who went 314-177 and was the league’s coach of the year in 2009. If they had waited beyond 10 days after the season, they would have had to pay the 40-year-old coach his salary for next season. Cleveland’s assistant coaches remain under contract for 2010-11.
Gilbert will undoubtedly try to make a big splash to convince James to stay, but to do so he will likely have to land a high-profile coach. There’s no indication Gilbert has reached out to anyone yet, but the top-tier candidate list could include Phil Jackson of the Lakers, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo or Kentucky’s John Calipari, a close friend of James whose seat near Cleveland’s bench added awkward drama to the Cavs’ loss in Game 5 to the Celtics.
Broken nose won’t stop Nash
PHOENIX — Steve Nash has a broken nose but says he doesn’t expect it to be a problem for him in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
The Suns guard suffered the slight fracture in a fourth-quarter collision with Derek Fisher in Sunday night’s 118-109 victory over the Lakers. Nash said he had broken his nose “a handful” of times and wasn’t planning to wear any protective gear or Manu Ginobili-style tape job for tonight’s game.
Footnotes.
Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau is the leading candidate to fill the Hornets’ coaching vacancy and the team could offer him the job this week.
• Pacers guard A.J. Price will need four to six months to heal from a knee injury he suffered while playing in a charity basketball game Saturday.
The Associated Press
