The beginning of the end for Larry Brown as Charlotte Bobcats coach might have been an interview he gave on the eve of training camp. Even by Brown standards, this was remarkable bluntness.
Quantcast
He said then that he “died”
the day the team chose not to re-sign point guard Raymond Felton. He said his roster got worse as most of the Bobcats’ Eastern Conference rivals improved.
Second-guessing the boss seldom enhances your job security. So when Brown’s players stopped listening to him — he acknowledged as much recently — the end came suddenly.
Wednesday, after a morning practice, Brown met with Jordan in early afternoon.
Though the Bobcats’ announcement suggests Brown left by mutual agreement with Jordan, several sources close to Brown say emphatically that the entire coaching staff was fired by Jordan, whose only statement on the decision was in a news release.
“The team has clearly not lived up to either of our expectations,”
Jordan said in the release. “This is a difficult decision for both of us, but one that needed to be made.”
Jordan quickly hired former Charlotte and New Orleans Hornets coach Paul Silas as interim coach. General manager Rod Higgins said Silas’ status would be evaluated at the end of this season.
Jordan’s view of Brown changed radically between October and December. During the preseason, Jordan told the Observer he wanted to sign Brown to a contract extension and that it hadn’t happened only because Brown put off negotiations.
“I’d love to keep Larry as long as he (wants to be) here,”
Jordan told the Observer in October. “He’s been very beneficial to what we’re doing.”
Jordan said that same day that he expected the team not only to return to the playoffs but to win at least a round in the postseason. At 9-19, and having lost three of their past six games by 30 points or more, the Bobcats look nothing like a playoff team.
Higgins said on a conference call with Charlotte media Wednesday evening the coaching change should be viewed as the front office not giving up on the season.
