LA Lakers Coach: What Does Mike Brown’s Hiring Mean for the Team Moving Forward?

So, before I put on the pith helmet and run for cover, I thought I would take a few moments to explain why I think the Lakers choice of Mike Brown as their new head coach is not such a bad one. In fact, it may just be the smartest move Jim Buss has made as Lakers “Owner In Training.”

The contract is apparently in place and ready for signing. I hope Brown doesn’t get cold feet and hop on the next plane bound for Cleveland. I also hope he’s immune to the intense criticism and scrutiny he’s received in the past 24 hours, this before he’s coached even one game for his new employers.

Believe me, he’ll be getting a lot more between now and whenever the league decides to settle its legal matters and start the regular season.

Let’s examine the facts and see why Mike Brown as Lakers head coach is as good a choice, if not better, than Brian Shaw, Rick Adelman, Jeff Van Gundy or Mike Dunleavy, who were the other front runners for what is considered one of the premier coaching jobs in all of professional sports.

This is what the Lakers are getting in the 41-year-old Mike Brown, who was unceremoniously fired in 2010 by the Cavaliers after his team led by LeBron James lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference Semifinals:

• Mike Brown had a record of 272-138 in five seasons with Cleveland, a winning percentage of .663. He won 127 regular season games in his last two years there, an average of 63 per season.

• Brown led the Cavaliers to the postseason in all five years as a coach, including a Finals appearance against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. It was a first for Cleveland, although they were swept out of the Finals by the Spurs.

• Brown was an assistant coach at two other winning organizations prior to his stint as the head man in Cleveland—three with the Spurs and two with Indiana. He was on the bench as an assistant coach when...