2012 NBA Playoffs: Does Mike Brown Deserve Some Credit After All?

Mike Brown would have been third on my Coach of the Year Ballot if I were given a vote. 

The Coach of the Year award is the most subjective accolade in all of professional sports.  It usually goes to either a.) the coach of the best team, b.) the coach of the most surprising team, or c.) the coach that did the most with the least amount of talent. 

This season the Lakers did not fall into any of those categories, so that’s enough of a reason to dismiss Brown.  Actually, there’s about 100 reasons to dismiss Brown. However, the Lakers fell into a category unlike any we’ve seen in the history of the NBA. Here’s why...

One: The NBA lockout forced a truncated 66-game schedule upon every team.

Two: The Lakers were one of the few teams who had made a coaching change in the offseason. Kobe Bryant was not at all happy with the Lakers' decision, either.  He wanted former teammate and longtime assistant Bryan Shaw at the helm, as did the majority of Lakers fans—if not Shaw, then Rick Adeleman.  Kobe even expressed his public displeasure with the hiring

Three: The Lakers were coming off a season in which they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs.

Four: Not long after the lockout ended, the Lakers traded Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom for Chris Paul.  Less than 24 hours later, it became the first major trade in professional sports to be vetoed by a commissioner.

Five: After this veto, Pau Gasol was forced to return to the Lakers, AKA the team that just traded him.  Lamar Odom, meanwhile, did not take as nicely as Gasol did to this.  He demanded a trade.  And just like that, the Lakers' fourth best player was out the door on his way to Dallas, and L.A. had nothing to show for it.  Okay, they had a little to show for it—the Clippers wound up getting Chris Paul.



Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers