Cleveland Cavaliers fire coach Mike Brown; move may be effort to give LeBron James stamp on new hire

IF LEBRON JAMES decides to stay in Cleveland, he will be playing for a new coach.
Probably one of his own choosing, too.
The Cavaliers, as expected, dumped Mike Brown Monday after their stunning second-round playoff collapse against the Boston Celtics and before they had to pay his entire $4.5 million salary for next season. He had a clause in his contract that if he were fired within 10 days of the Cavs' last game, he would get only $2 million. The deadline was Sunday, and that's when the team made the move and with James off on vacation.




Brown's firing was about much more than money.
With their two-time MVP potentially leaving Cleveland on July 1 as a free agent, the Cavs found themselves in a position where they likely had to fire Brown and allow James to have major input on a successor in order to get his signature on a new contract.
Under Brown, the Cavs won 127 games over the last two seasons, only to regress in the playoffs, starting with a loss last year to Orlando in the East finals.
It's not known if James is thinking about a coach. Through media emissaries, he denied that he demanded the firing and insisted that he left the job of determining Brown's future to the front office and owner Dan Gilbert.
"The expectations of this organization are very high," Gilbert said in a statement. "After a long and deep analysis of all of the factors that led to the disappointing early ends to our playoff runs over the past two seasons, we concluded that it was time for the Cavaliers to move in a different direction."
Among the coaches James and the Cavs figure to look at are former Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, who sits atop the Nets' wish list and who also has drawn interest from the Bulls; ex-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy; and Kentucky's John Calipari, who is a friend of James but has insisted over recent weeks that he is staying in Lexington. Former Nets and Hornets coach Byron Scott could also be in the running.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has coached James with Team USA, said he would have no interest in the Cavs' job. Phil Jackson's name has been mentioned as a long shot. But if Jackson does not return to the Lakers, who are expected to offer him his job at a pay cut for next season, he might retire. He is making a league-high $12 million this season.
Despite his shortcomings as an offensive strategist, Brown helped to establish a winning culture in Cleveland during his five seasons. He had a 272-138 record, the best of any coach in Cleveland history. But after making the Finals in 2007 for the first time in franchise history, the Cavs have not been close since.
"I have truly enjoyed working with Mike Brown," Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said. "Mike has played a huge role in turning around the Cavs organization. Over the past five years, Mike established a work ethic, defensive identity and culture of winning that was not here previously."
The Cavs were expected to at least get to the Finals this season, as they added Shaquille O'Neal last June and Antawn Jamison over the winter and won 61 games to gain the No. 1 seed overall for the second straight season.
But as James badly underperformed against Boston in Game 5 and hardly did much better in the close-out game, Brown was criticized for his rotations as the Cavs lost three straight in uninspired efforts.



By Mitch Lawrence
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
nydailynews.com