Mike Brown will be coaching his final game for the Los Angeles Lakers tonight if they lose Game 7 to the Denver Nuggets.
Says who?
Magic Johnson, that’s who.
“His job will go,” Johnson said on ESPN, where he is a studio analyst. “The Lakers are about championships. That’s what the Lakers are about. If they lose this game, Mike Brown, I bet you, will not be sitting there.”
Johnson sold his 4.5% stake in the Lakers in 2010, but he remains on the payroll as a vice president.
“Mike Brown will not be coaching the Lakers if they lose this game,” Johnson said. “There would be so much pressure on Jim Buss and the Laker organization to get rid of him.”
“”They’re going to run Mike Brown first out of town,” Johnson said. “Then second will be Bynum. Then third will be Gasol.”
Brown, who makes $4.5 million per year, has two guaranteed years remaining on his contract.
I don’t necessarily buy it. Mike Brown would deserve some blame, but the players mailed it in last year under a different head coach (I think we all know who that was), so at some point, they have to be held more accountable. Andrew Bynum’s been in the league for what, seven years now? His commitment and maturity shouldn’t still be issues. And Gasol has been disappointing in the playoffs again. And of course, it hasn’t helped that Ron Artest missed virtually all of this series for basically assaulting James Harden. They deserve most of the blame.