By Justin Worsley
A source close to Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown has told ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher that Brown has been fired.
Brown won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2009 when the Cavaliers won a league-high 66 games. Brown, however, has failed to get the LeBron James-led Cavs to produce in the postseason since being swept by San Antonio in the 2007 NBA Finals. Last season, they lost to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Championship. This season, the Boston Celtics dethroned the top-seeded Cavaliers in six games, winning the last two by a combined 50 points.
Immediately after being bounced out of the playoffs, rumors circled that Brown was fired. The team had to make a decision whether or not to fire him on Sunday before midnight or pay his $4.5 million salary for next season.
The firing of Brown has a large impact on the near-future of Cleveland. James, who is a two-time NBA MVP, will be a free agent on July 1 and Cleveland may be willing to let James have say in who is coaching in Cleveland next season in order to keep him.
The James sweepstakes have dominated headlines since the team's last game of the season. Dallas Mavaericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $100,000 by the NBA for stating he would be willing to trade for him (NBA personnel are not allowed to mention a player's name prior to the start of free agency in order to avoid tampering,) and president Barrack Obama has told TNT that Chicago has a great core and is the best fit for James. James' idol, Michael Jordan, won six NBA Championships in the 1990's in Chicago.
Brown is not expected to stay jobless for long. Five teams, including Chicago, have vacant head coaching positions. Two other teams, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Clippers, have the cap room to sign James.
Brown made the playoffs every in all five seasons he coached in Cleveland. The Cavaliers have gone 127-37 in the last two seasons.
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