Sports history in Black: Mike Brown gets the boot from the L.A. Lakers

Coaches get all the glory sometimes. Remember, while fans were praising NBA stars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson was being credited for guiding Jordan where he’d never been able to go.

But coaches can get the blame too.

NBA coach Mike Brown in 2008. Photo credit: Keith Allison
NBA coach Mike Brown in 2008. Photo credit: Keith Allison

Mike Brown was named the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2011. Going into his second season there in 2012, the Lakers acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and Brown decided the Lakers were going to run a different offense.

Well, the preseason was rough, with Nash and Kobe Bryant dealing with injuries and Dwight Howard coming off of back surgery. That rough preseason bled into the regular season, with the Lakers starting 1-4. And with that rough start, the Lakers decided to pull the plug on Brown as the head coach, firing him on November 10, 2012. His firing after five games was the soonest into a season a coach had been fired since the NBA-ABA merger.

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