Posted on Wed, Apr. 30, 2008

HAS BUILT WINNING REPUTATION

Brown takes on 9th NBA team

Well-traveled coach signs 4-year contract to turn Bobcats around

RICK BONNELL

rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte Bobcats managing partner Michael Jordan let it slip Tuesday that he had signed Larry Brown to a four-year coaching contract.

Four seasons is a long time for a 67-year-old who's hop-scotched around eight NBA franchises. Does he expect to stick around No. 9?

"I hope I'll coach longer (here) than that," Brown said at his introductory news conference. "But I want to get through my first practice."

Brown showed up in Charlotte with a loaded resume and a demanding reputation. He replaced Sam Vincent, who was fired Saturday, hours before Jordan met with Brown in Chicago to discuss the job.

Despite that timing, Jordan maintained he didn't fire Vincent expressly to replace him with Brown.

"Two independent decisions," Jordan said of firing Vincent (32-50 after one season) and hiring Brown.

He compared Vincent to a shoe, and said that shoe didn't fit the Bobcats' foot. He said he based that conclusion on player feedback and what he witnessed throughout the season.

Jordan said Brown was at the top of a short list of candidates and he approached him a year ago, before hiring Vincent. That was closer to Brown being fired as coach of the New York Knicks, after a 23-59 season, and he wasn't ready to return to the sidelines.

This time was different. Brown resigned Thursday as executive vice president of the Philadelphia 76ers to focus on pursuing a coaching job. He nearly took the Stanford job last week before deciding not to relocate his family to California.

Brown said as soon as fellow Tar Heel Jordan approached him, it was a "no-brainer" to take the offer. His wife, Shelly, was a slightly harder sell.

"Shelly played hardball," Jordan joked. "Larry wanted to coach. Shelly made the business decisions."

The Bobcats did not disclose the financial terms of Brown's contract.

He inherits a team that has yet to reach the playoffs in four seasons. Unlike Vincent a year ago, Brown didn't make any playoff predictions, despite his teams getting there 17 times.

It was clear that Brown was a bit humbled by his one season in New York.

"I don't look at (the Knicks) as a bad experience; I was a bad coach. I did a bad job," he said. "Until (coaching the Knicks), I thought our teams always played harder than our opponent. That's been a strength of every team I've been involved with."

Brown has coached two of the 14 Bobcats -- Emeka Okafor at the 2004 Olympics and Nazr Mohammed with the 76ers (1998 through 2000). Brown is familiar with most of the Bobcats, though he jokingly referred to Adam Morrison as the "guy with the long hair" and made a point of saying Raymond Felton is definitely a point guard.

Felton has spent his first three seasons flip-flopping between point guard and shooting guard while playing for Vincent and Bernie Bickerstaff. Brown said with Matt Carroll and Jason Richardson available as shooting guards, there's no need to continue using Felton as a combo guard.

As it is, Felton will have his hands full. Brown is known to be particularly demanding on point guards because they're his conduit to the rest of the team on the floor.

Felton, who attended Brown's news conference, said he's not intimidated.

"They're trying to scare me, but I've been through that experience with coach (Roy) Williams," at North Carolina, Felton said. "I know how he's going to get on me, but I also know he'll be there for me. So I'm looking forward to it."

If any of Vincent's assistants are retained, it figures to be Phil Ford, another former North Carolina point guard who is close with Felton. Ford figures to be the buffer zone between Brown and Felton when things get tense.

Jordan has asked Brown to consider each of Vincent's assistants, but he's not obligated to do so. Brown sounded like he'll be looking to hire longtime associates.

"I can teach any coach all the knowledge I've been given, but I can't teach them to be loyal to me," Brown said. "I have to have a relationship with them."

Based on that description, it wouldn't be a surprise if the new staff includes Dave Hanners, who worked with Brown in New York, and John Kuester, who worked with him in Philadelphia. The staff also could include Cleveland point guard Eric Snow, who might retire because of injury after this season.