The Los Angeles Lakers' 0-8 preseason and 1-4 start to the regular season was too much for the front office to take.
The NBA team on Friday
fired second-year head coach Mike Brown, whose efforts to implement a
new offense and mesh free-agent signings with stars who won a title two
years ago didn't turn into wins.
"Really, it came down to
ownership and management looking at the record, looking at the
improvement level, and wondering a month or two or three down the road,
will we be in the same spot," General Manager Mitch Kupchak told
reporters.
Assistant coach Bernie
Bickerstaff will be interim head coach for Friday night's game against
the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers said.
The Lakers, just two
years removed from an NBA championship, are loaded with high-profile
talent with the likes of all-stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and they
added former league MVP Steve Nash and former Orlando Magic star Dwight
Howard in the off-season.
But Nash has missed most
of the season's early games with an injury, and the Lakers struggled
with a complex new offense Brown was implementing.
"I never thought we got
to the point where the offense was flowing," Kupchak said. "You could
see flashes of it, but we never got to a point (where it was consistent
through a game)."
A reporter asked Kupchak
whether a desire to make Howard's first year a smooth one was a factor
in the decision. The star center would be a free agent at season's end
if he doesn't sign an extension.
"Obviously, we know he is
a free agent this summer, and you want to make the experience for him
as good as possible, but we have a lot of other people we need to
(please) as well," Kupchak said.
Kupchak said the team's management decided Thursday night to make the move, a day after the Lakers lost a 95-86 game at Utah.
Brown released a
statement saying he had great respect for the family of Lakers owner
Jerry Buss "and the Lakers' storied tradition, and I thank them for the
opportunity they afforded me."
"I have a deep
appreciation for the coaches and players that I worked with this past
year and I wish the organization nothing but success as they move
forward," Brown said.
Before taking the Lakers
job in May 2011, Brown, 42, compiled a 272-138 regular-season record in
five seasons as head coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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