USA Today is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Mike Brown today after only five games and a 1-4 record to start the season.
With 71 games left in the NBA season, the team will look to assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff to run the team while they search for a long-term replacement.
Enter Phil Jackson?
It isn't clear whether or not the team will want to consider bringing back there former coach, but new reports are indicting he is a least "interested" in the job.
Jackson is perhaps the most successful coach in NBA history having won six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls and five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also won two titles as a player for the New York Knicks.
The Lakers will stop running the Princeton offense according to Yahoo, a system that just wasn't working with all the new pieces the team acquired in the offseason.
Former Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy head called the move the "most ridiculous firing in the history of the NBA." Others have expressed similar feelings as well stating that five games wasn't enough time for Brown to get things turned around. With the addition of players like Dwight Howard and MVP point guard Steve Nash suffering from an injury, some inside the organization felt it was going to take time before the team could show there true potential.
Apparently Lakers owner Jerry Buss and General Manager Mitch Kupchak didn't like the way things were heading and had seen enough to justify firing Brown after just a one full season and five games this year.
Not everyone on the team was satisfied with the Brown hiring last year. When told about the hiring by Hoopsworld writer Alex Kennedy, a player within the Lakers organization texted back "Are you kidding me? Why?"
"I have great respect for the Buss family and the Lakers' storied tradition and I thank them for the opportunity they afforded me," Brown said in a statement. "I have a deep appreciation for the coaches and players that I worked with this past year and I wish the organization nothing but success as they move forward."
Other potential coaching candidates could include Brian Shaw, Jerry Sloan, and Mike D'Antoni.
D'Antoni was fired last season after four years with the Knicks. Some feel that his coaching style will suite the team more than Sloan's would as he could improve things on the offensive side of the court. D'Antoni also coached Nash for three years during his time with the Phoenix Suns where they both took the team to the playoffs from 2005 until 2008.
Brown is 3rd coach to last only five games or less to start season. Those who didn't last as long as Brown: Dolph Schayes 1 game in 71-72, Chick Reiser 3 games in 52-53 according to Elias Sports Bureau.
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