Desperate measures

Brown may reject better lifestyles for chance at title

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked last week how important winning an NBA title was to his good friend Larry Brown. "Very important," Popovich said without hesistation. "He wants to win one very badly."

Brown apparently wants to win one so badly he's willing to give up the favored lifestyle offered in L.A., Denver or Houston. But while the Clippers, Rockets or Nuggets might have offered his wife better shopping or prettier scenery, Detroit offers him a chance to stay in the East and win right away. At age 62, Brown knows he might not have many more chances.

If Brown takes on the job, he would be a good teacher for the Pistons' young core of Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Mehmut Okur and, eventually, Darko Milicic or Carmelo Anthony.

His mission would be to make Detroit more explosive and fun to watch without yielding its bedrock defensive principles. In that regard, Brown's approach would be a little different than that of Rick Carlisle, whose reluctance to play the youngters as much led to some friction in the front office.

But Brown's hiring might be a train wreck in terms of front-office dynamics. The Pistons, after all, already have team president Joe Dumars, the Executive of the Year, and GM John Hammond.

Would Brown, who is notorious for wanting to tinker with his roster and who had near total control over such matters in Philadelphia, be happy just handling Xs and Os?

As for Carlisle, he now joins the list of hot coaching names on the carousel. The Wizards might be a good fit, given Carlisle's ties to the area as a former college star at Virginia. Or he could decide to sit out a year and go back into broadcasting, then watch his stock soar next season as other openings become available.

With Brown's status reportedly resolved, look for the other coaching dominoes to fall rapidly. For example, it appears likely that Jeff Van Gundy will go to Cleveland, Paul Silas to Philadelphia, Mike Fratello to New Orleans and Mike Dunleavy to either Houston or Atlanta.

Of course, as the Carlisle situation shows, nothing can be ruled out in this craziest of NBA offseasons.

Marty Burns covers pro basketball for SI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.

 

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