During his 16 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant been through his fair share of head coaches. Mike Brown is another one of many that Kobe has seen come and go with Brown unable to live up to the extremely expectations of the new-look roster this season.
Although many believe that Kobe may have not seen eye-to-eye with Brown over the last two years, the five-time NBA champion has nothing but respect for his former head coach as he expressed appreciation for Brown and his family on his Facebook page:
Tough day. I’ve seen coaches as well as friends come and go. No matter how many years I’ve been playing, it’s still hard to deal with. I had a good relationship with Mike and I will continue to have one. I wish him and his family nothing but the best. I spoke with him today and thanked him for all of his hard work and sacrifice.
As a team, we must focus our energy on tonight’s game. We must block out the weight of today’s news and simply do our jobs to the best of our ability.
I’m not sure what direction we are heading in next. All I can do is focus on the here and now.
Mamba out
With Brown out of the picture and a vacant head coaching position, the Lakers’ front office will have yet another big move to pull off in order to get this team back into title contention. Fortunately, with only five games in the books, there’s still plenty of time to bring in a new head coach and be successful this season.
Only a few potential candidates seem to be the list for the Lakers with Kobe having experience with the majority. The one candidate that Kobe doesn’t have any history with his Jerry Sloan, but it’s safe to say the future Hall of Famer has respect for the former Utah Jazz head coach.
As for the rest of the candidates, Phil Jackson remains the ideal choice, but it’s uncertain to say the least whether or not it’s a realistic possibility to bring him back for a third stint in Los Angeles.
The other two potential coaching candidates are Mike D’Antoni and Brian Shaw. D’Antoni has been getting a lot of buzz in the wake of Brown’s firing, but might not be able to coach until late December due to a recovery from knee surgery. Shaw on the other hand was the frontrunner to land the job after Jackson walked away, but was beat out by Brown and forced to take another assistant role with the Indiana Pacers.
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Video: Mike Brown Fired, Howard Wants Phil Jackson
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