Larry Brown: "I don't want to coach here"

[The Guilty Party]

Larry Brown apparently did a recent interview with "Philadelphia" magazine (I don't have the link to to the initial story") in which he discussed his feelings about working for the Knicks and the possibility of taking over the Sixers' coaching job.

While the Knicks' stuff is interesting because LB said that he felt like the Knicks had "spies" watching him... I was a little more interested in this part...

Brown has since returned to Philadelphia, serving as an executive vice president with the 76ers. He led the Sixers to the NBA finals in 2001.

He said he had no interest in replacing current coach Maurice Cheeks because he "could never stab Mo in the back like that."

"I still want to coach," Brown said. "I don't want to coach here. I don't want it to end the way it did in New York. I don't wish that on anybody."


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3209195

Is this just LB saying the right things or do you believe LB really will turn down the job if Stefanski cans Mo??

[Cru Thik]

I don't think he ever wanted the job and I don't discredit his word so there is no reason to think he wouldn't stick by his friend and not take his job. Hopefully he gets another job and does well but it's not going to be Philadelphia thankfully.

[bebopdeluxe]

If Stefanski 1) cans Mo after the season ends, and then 2) asks LB to take the job, how is that "stabbing Mo in the back"?

I want the best coach that we can get for this team. LB is better than Mo...and is also better than a lot of the other retreads that would be available if we do let Mo go after the season.

If LB was rehired, I would be good with that.

[Sandalf42]

I hope he does keep true to his word. I don't want LB here. He always leaves teams in a mess after he leaves, and I don't want any part of that.

[barkley34]

I want the best coach that we can get for this team. LB is better than Mo...and is also better than a lot of the other retreads that would be available if we do let Mo go after the season.

If LB was rehired, I would be good with that.

+1

[76erinSJ]

I wouldnt trust Browns statements at all because he basically stabbed us in the back when he bolted Philly to go chase a Chip in Detroit.

[The Guilty Party]

I hope he does keep true to his word. I don't want LB here. He always leaves teams in a mess after he leaves, and I don't want any part of that.

Is that accurate??? San Antonio, the Clippers, the Pacers, the Sixers, and the Pistons were all in better shape at the time he left then when he got there. The Knicks are the Knicks so I'm not going to judge him on that.

When he left us... we weren't as good as we had been but we still made the playoffs the following year. While I think some of his trades were shortsighted, I don't think we were destined to be where were are without a lot of screwups by Billy King.

[MicrOLak3R]

If you look throughout his career the teams he left have almost always become much better. Besides the Knicks that is. I'm not fond of his coaching style though. Calls too many freakin plays for my taste. Let them freelance LB!!

[SendEm]

Larry Brown is a career loser. It took for Joe Dumars to put him in a proper position. I want no parts of Larry Brown. I want the possibility of championship level basketball. I know that Larry Brown will not coach the Sixers to that level. I want our new coach to potentially be the guy that stays here for 12+ years while raising championship banners. that's not within Larry's abilities...He's a rob Peter to pay Paul type of coach. NBA franchises always feel violated after hiring his services.

[The Guilty Party]

Did I miss something? Is Larry Brown in the Hall of Fame? Does Larry Brown have an NBA championship to his name? Does Larry Brown also have an NCAA title on his resume?? If he's a "career loser" than what does that make Jerry Sloan (a coach who's been at his job for 12 years)??

As for the statement about NBA franchises feeling violated... well that's a flat-out joke. You say it took Joe Dumars in order for him to win a title... I say it took Larry Brown in order for Joe Dumars to win a title because the last time I checked... this current Pistons group was unable to win a title with Carlisle before Brown got there and has been unable to win a title with Saunders since Brown left.

[BadWolf]

Larry Brown is not the right coach for a rebuilding team with so many really young guys

[The Guilty Party]

Aside from the Pistons... what team has Larry Brown taken over that wasn't a team at ground zero of it's rebuilding process?

It confuses me when people say that Larry Brown shouldn't coach a young team or a team that is just starting the rebuilding process. Again... other than the Piston job... when has Larry Brown taken over a good team? Does anyone remember 1997 when the Sixers were in salary cap hell with a 2nd year Iverson and 3rd year Stackhouse? Isn't that situation comparable to this??

[SendEm]

The difference is that Joe Dumars is responsible for putting EVERYONE in place on that Pistons team so it could NEVER be Larry Brown being the reason why Joe brought a CHIP to Detroit. Joe knew before hiring Larry that LB was exactly what his team needed to move forward just like he knew that Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshawn Prince, Chauncey Billups, and Richard Hamilton were all what the Pistons needed. All of those players were passed over or didn't find great success in other locales. Larry was a vagabond and still is to this very day. Joe Dumars was the most substantial thing that ever happened in Larry's life. Byron Scott is a better coach than Larry Brown. Larry Brown is just a great career coach in terms of placing himself in the best position to both make money and leave his reputation the least tarnished. He's a mastermind when it comes to that because there is and was always a built in excuse for his mediocrity. Before Joe Dumars got Larry the CHIP all of the Larry's fans use to say that Larry never won a CHIP because he didn't have the players or he took over losing franchises. Larry Brown is a GENIUS when it comes to be a CAREER coach. But he isn't a genius as a coach, just a great business man that conceals it under a guise of a "pure" love for the game and "playing the right way." He's a complete mastermind at somehow keeping his desirability at high levels while being placed in the pantheon of great coaches due to his many years of service REGARDLESS of his overall mediocrity. If you keep giving someone a million chances EVENTUALLY they'll have some success. Larry has been given a trillion chances, WHY? Because he is a genius businessman who has alot of friends. He's a very good coach, but so are alot of people. He's a hall of fame businessman...

[freshie2]

Brown's history in coaching is a bit more than what you state. I don't like the way he handles the business end of his career, but you can't minimize what he has accomplished. Taking the Clippers and Sixers to the playoffs and beyond is amazing. People talk about Phil, Rudy, Pop as great coaches, but they've been coaches of great players throughout. Brown has built winning teams out of very little talent (except for Detroit), which I think is more impressive in a star driven league.

[ITK9]

Byron Scott is a better coach than Larry Brown. Larry

and iguodala is the worst player on this planet....

[SendEm]

Mike Dunleavy has taken the Clippers to the playoffs also. In the words of Denny Green "CROWN EM!"

Btw Donald Sterling isn't so happy with Dunleavy's performance this season check the articles.

[The Guilty Party]

Larry Brown is just a great career coach in terms of placing himself in the best position to both make money and leave his reputation the least tarnished. He's a mastermind when it comes to that because there is and was always a built in excuse for his mediocrity.

So the fact that the Spurs, Clippers, Pacers, and Sixers were all terrible before he got there and playoff teams/contenders (in the Sixers, Spurs, and Pacers case) while he was there was all luck???

If so, I'd love for that man to bring that kind of luck back our way.

[Gsraider]

I think Brown chose his words very carefully. I think he doesn't want to take over this team mid-season after Mo is fired. However, if the season ends and Stefanski opts not to extend the contract of Cheeks, then Brown did nothing to stab Cheeks in the back and is only looking at one of the currently "open" HC positions in the league. However, is he the right coach for a young team like this? I can only hope that A. Miller is still here if this was a possibility because you need a smart, solid PG to work under Brown in my opinion. I cannot imagine that L. Williams is his type of guy.

[bebopdeluxe]

1) To suggest that LB leaves NBA teams in worse shape than when he arrives is absurd and goes against virtually every job he has had (except the Knicks, whose corporate dysfunction I am happy to throw out of the sample group);

2) Another historical myth is that LB cannot coach young players, and that simply is not true as well. In addition to having won an NCAA championship (with a Kansas team that had one excellent player and a bunch of lunch-pail guys), he took a UCLA team with four freshman in its top 7 players to the NCAA title game in 1980. His player personnel decisions with the Sixers had a lot more to do with trying to build a team around one unique player (Iverson) than it did with not liking young players per se...and while people focus on guys like Tyorne Hill, George Lynch and other vets that he brought in, he also traded for and developed young guys who were underutilized on their teams (Eric Snow, Theo Ratliff, Aaron McKie).

3) Is LB a better coach than Maurice Cheeks?

Yes or no?

If you believe that Maurice Cheeks is not the coach to take this team to the next level (as I do) and you do not want LB to take over the team, that's fine with me. Please provide the name of the coach out there that is currently available that will do a better job than LB (a proven Hall-of-Fame coach with ties to the team and deep knowledge of the personnel)...and support that choice with concrete examples of your coach's accomplishments, and their proven ability to develop young talent better than LB has done throughout his 40-year coaching career.

Thanks.

[SendEm]

I don't believe that I used the word "luck." Try again.