Mike Brown: Between 'The King' and a Hard Place

Filed under: Cavaliers, NBA Playoffs

Mike Brown might be in the most enviable position in basketball. The coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers gets to work with LeBron James.



It also might be the most unenviable. Because if the Cavs win, it's because of James; if they lose, it's because ... well ... it's sure not going to be because of James.



Brown understands; he accepts his circumstances. But every time the Cavs lose a playoff game or move closer to losing a series, the hand-wringing grows more intense -- especially in a town starved for a title and edgy about the MVP's future. Every win or loss takes the team closer to a championship, or to James' free agency.



As a result, Brown's moves are scrutinized more closely and questioned more intently, and every game the pressure is ratcheted up exponentially. Working in that environment takes a personality that is centered, confident and secure. Brown -- an eminently good and humble man -- is all of that, and more. He will never turn himself into a self-proclaimed genius (don't expect Zen wisdom from him); it's simply not his personality or his style, and Brown is not the kind to make himself into something he's not.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/11/mike-brown-between-the-king-and-a-hard-place/