MIDNIGHT RUN

WHEN WINNING ISN'T ENOUGH

Late last night, Mike Brown learned two things. 

One, it ain't easy being Cinderella.  Like the babe with the glass slippers, Brown had to hit the road before midnight.  Though in this economy, I wish someone would send me packing with a severance check of over two million dollars.  If the Cavs had let the clock tick to midnight, they would have been on the hook for 4.5 million.

Brown guided the Cavs to the ball in each of his five seasons at the helm, making it to the big dance in 2007.  Brown's record of 317-177 makes him the most successful coach in Cavs history and he was tabbed coach of the year in 2009.  Guess he forgot how to coach in one season.

The second thing Brown learned is why Phil Jackson is so revered.  It ain't easy coaching superstars.  Jackson has handled and gotten the respect of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant -- no small order.  But championships don't lie, and Jackson has run out of ring fingers.

Understanding that James was one of the prominent faces of the new NBA, Brown was careful not to publicly criticize the franchise.  That street didn't run booth ways.  James had no problem in past years questioning Brown's offensive strategies and during the recent Boston series, when O'Neal sat on the bench except for 49 seconds in the fourth quarter of a Game 4 loss, James openly wondered why.

Knowing Brown was being evaluated by owner Dan Gilbert and General Manager Danny Ferry, James elected to have no input, which in itself was an indictment.  If James wanted Brown back, all he had to do was pick up a phone or in this social networking age, even a tweet would have been sufficient.

 

Again, don't feel too bad for Brown. He'll certainly get another job and has a nice down payment toward the purchase of another house.  And there were times in the series against Boston when he seemed clueless as to how to combat the cohesiveness of the Celtics veteran squad.  Remember, it wasn't long ago that critics said Doc Rivers couldn't coach either.  Talent has a funny way of paving the way for success.  To that end, how much responsibility falls on Cavs management?  They tried to surround James with workable pieces but the Cavs have learned the hard way deficiencies show up in the playoffs.  Why didn't the Cavs for instance go after Pau Gasol when the Lakers snapped him up from Memphis?  I can tell you for a fact the Cavs never thought they had a shot to get the All-Star center, but somehow the Lakers found a way.

While the James sweepstakes chatter continues, perhaps he has learned one lesson.  Magic Johnson did it.  Jordan did it.  Kobe went through it and DeWayne Wade endured it.  All either had coaches fired or sat on the sideline while management figured it out.