Meet Mike Brown, New Lakers Head Coach

Brown was born in Columbus, Ohio, but spent parts of his childhood overseas. He graduated from Würzburg American High School in Würzburg, Germany in 1988, where he excelled in basketball, football, and baseball. After studying and playing basketball at Mesa Community College for two years, Brown went on to the University of San Diego, where he played two seasons for the Toreros and graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in business. He began his career in 1992 with the Denver Nuggets where he spent five seasons as the team's scout and video coordinator.

Brown was with the Cavaliers for five seasons until he was fired in 2010, leaving with a 272-138 record. He was named the NBA's coach of the year in 2009 for leading the Cavaliers to a 66-16 record. Brown led the Cavaliers to a 61-21 record during the 2009-10 season, another league-best record. But after the Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals and to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals in 2010, Brown was fired. Brown led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, but Cleveland was swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

In the end, though, I’m not nearly as down on this move as many seem to be. Brown, for all his warts has won a lot of games in this league and maxed out the talent he had at his disposal. In the 2008-09 season his team won 66 games. The following year his team won 61. He was able to rally his team and consistently get them on the same page to be successful as a group. Understand that getting a team lead by a single star with multiple role players to all go 100% without there being dissention is also a strong act of leadership. This leads me to believe that a roster of experienced veterans that understand the stakes of championship basketball will also come together under his stewardship.

When the rumors about Mike Brown surfaced late last week, I didn't get too worked up about them. Mostly because on the Lakers' shortlist were at least couple obviously more qualified candidates, and an organization as smart as the Lakers wouldn't really pass on Rick Adelman and Brian Shaw to hire Mike Brown. Right?