CLEVELAND -- Owner Dan Gilbert stopped by the Cavaliers'
gift shop in Gund Arena on Thursday morning to pick up a few
last-minute welcoming gifts for Mike Brown, his newest employee.
One was a $20 Cavaliers clock.
"Contrary to popular opinion, we're going to give him more time
than people think to be head coach of the Cavaliers," Gilbert said
at a news conference introducing Brown.
Maybe. But it appears to be only a matter of time before a more prominent Brown (Larry) comes to Cleveland, too.
Tick, tock, indeed.
One of the NBA's most respected assistants at Indiana, Mike
Brown officially became Cleveland's 17th coach -- and star LeBron James' second as a pro -- on Thursday. Brown received a four-year
$10 million contract and inherited a team that fractured late last
season and missed the playoffs again.
While he wasn't the only Brown on people's minds, the personable
35-year-old flawlessly handled some awkward questions during his
first public moments as Cleveland's sixth coach in six years.
ESPN Insider Chad Ford first reported that Detroit coach Larry Brown, who has three years left on his contract with Detroit, has told sources he'll join Cleveland as its president of basketball operations.
Mike Brown was asked if he feared working under a man who could one day replace him.
"If Larry Brown does come here or doesn't come here, I'm not
concerned about that," he told the AP. "My job is to coach this
basketball team, and that's what I'm focusing on."
Gilbert acknowledged for the first time that Cleveland's
ownership group, after receiving permission from the Pistons,
discussed a front-office position with Larry Brown, but that no
offer has been made.
"No deal has been struck," Gilbert said. "He has not
committed -- yet. There is no deal with Larry Brown. There is no
deal on the table. There is no deal off the table. There is no deal
partially on the table.
"We've got to let the man be, let him coach the Pistons. After
the season is over and he gets his health checked out, if he can't
coach, we'll be glad to sit down with him and discuss a potential
deal."
Once the Pistons' season ends, the 64-year-old coach will have a
health problem addressed before deciding his next career move.
Brown insists his preference is to continue coaching the Pistons,
but the fact the club allowed the Cavs to speak with him would
indicate that Brown's days in Detroit are numbered.
Larry Brown, however, reiterated Thursday night that his first
priority is to remain a coach.
"I want to coach. That's my goal," he said before Detroit
played Miami in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. "When the
season's over, I told them that I was going to go to be checked and
if I could coach, I was going to continue to do that. ... If I
can't coach, I don't know what I'll be allowed to do, so I don't
want to even speculate on that."
Gilbert seems willing to wait for Brown before deciding whether
or not to restructure his front office. If Brown comes to
Cleveland, Gilbert may not hire a general manager as expected. If
Brown does not join the Cavs, Gilbert may implement a hierarchy
similar to those in Indiana and Miami, which have a GM and vice
president of basketball operations.
There are other possibilities, and they all seem to hinge on
Larry Brown's health and impulsiveness.
One thing is certain, though: Gilbert has his coach.
He interviewed "10 to 12" candidates for the Cleveland job, a
list of coaches that included Phil Jackson, Flip Saunders and Eric
Musselman. From his first meeting with Mike Brown, Gilbert came
away feeling that this was someone he shouldn't let get away.
"Mike's a winner," he said. "There's no other candidate we
talked to that I would have hired over him. There is no one going
where he is going."
Mike Brown's lack of head coaching experience didn't turn
Gilbert away. In fact, it drew him toward Brown, who spent the past
two years as Rick Carlisle's top assistant with the Pacers.
"I think potential, passion and talent are more important than
experience," Gilbert said. "When you look at the last 20 or 25
NBA champions, over half of them were won by coaches who were in
their first head coaching job. If you can get a guy who is ready to
blossom and become the next great coach in the NBA, that's the way
to go."
Of the many glowing endorsements the Cavaliers got about Mike
Brown, one carried more clout than others.
"LeBron does his own due diligence," Gilbert said. "He said,
'Oh, yeah, everybody loves Mike.'"
Brown, a father of two and the league's second-youngest coach behind New Jersey Nets's Lawrence Frank, began working on his
relationship with Cleveland's superstar on Wednesday night with a
phone call to James.
"I asked him, 'LeBron, what do you like to do? Do you like to
bowl or would you like to go to dinner? I'd like to get together
real soon. He said, 'Coach, I'm going to an amusement park real
soon, do you want to come?' I forget he's a kid."
Some would say Cleveland's coach is, too.
Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.