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Rich
Posts: 27410
Alba Posts: 6
Joined: 12/30/2003
Member: #511
USA
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Is Brown looking
to bolt Motown?
BY JOHN DELLAPINA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
AUBURN HILLS - Larry Brown might very well succeed in talking his way out of Detroit. But it could cost his dream team dearly: That team being the Knicks, of course.
Rather than politely decline to discuss the speculation for any number of valid reasons - not the least of which being that he still has 3-1/2 years to run on a $6-million-per contract to coach the Pistons and that the Knicks currently have a coach - Brown continues to fuel it by reiterating his life-long desire to coach the Garden's team.
According to a league source, such public pining has the Pistons' front office livid and many of the team's players ticked. As any member of the '94 Rangers can attest, it can be disturbing having a head coach either negotiating with another organization or discussing the merits of one while you're trying to win a title or defend one.
But while Detroit owner Bill Davidson and GM Joe Dumars might be inclined to say "good riddance" to Brown, they'll want the Knicks to pay a heavy price.
And not in dollars, which the wealthy Davidson does not need. According to the source, the Pistons would demand stiff compensation in the form of current players and draft picks.
Of course, there might be a way for native New Yorker Brown to make a clean getaway that doesn't damage his new franchise. That would be to resign as Pistons coach, claiming health reasons, and then declare himself reenergized in time to take over the Knicks next season.
Between discussing the lure of returning home to coach the Knicks, the 64-year-old Brown has said in recent weeks he doesn't know how much longer he wants to coach.
Having undergone hip surgery in the fall, Brown is said to be having a difficult time handling the rigors of the NBA schedule this season.
He didn't have any time off following the Pistons' run to the NBA title last June, heading right into coaching Team USA in the Olympics. And that didn't turn out to be much fun for Brown, who questioned some of his players' intensity en route to their embarrassing bronze-medal performance.
Throw in the way this season started for the Pistons, with the infamous November brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills that involved Indiana players going into the crowd, and Brown's fatigue is understandable.
But that doesn't mean the Pistons are very understanding when it comes to his entertaining questions about coaching the Knicks. Nor do they figure to have been appeased by Brown's decision to risk another NBA fine by refusing to speak with reporters before last night's game against the Knicks - he had been docked $35,000 earlier in the day for ripping officials for their work in Detroit's game Monday at Minnesota.
Coincidentally, one man who has expressed no anger at Brown's recent comments is Herb Williams, the Knicks' recently installed head coach.
"It doesn't bother me," Williams said before last night's game. "It doesn't bother me at all. I don't pay any attention to it. Right now, I'm the coach of the Knicks. And to me, that's all that counts."
Asked if he was offended that Brown hasn't simply refused to talk about the Knicks out of deference to him, Williams smiled.
"No, because the one thing about this league is that there's always going to be speculation," Williams said. "There's going to be speculation about who's going to play, who's going to coach the team. A team goes through a slump, who's going to be the next coach?
"I played 18 years. I've been an assistant coach for three or four years and now I'm the head coach. And it's always been that way."
Originally published on January 30, 2005
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1/30/2005 1:02 AM