Mike Brown on how he landed Lakers job and sitting down with Kobe
New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown joined the show to talk about his gig. Here are some of his takes …
— Brown said that a few teams contacted him before the Lakers. He said that he was farthest along in the process with Golden State. Brown said that the Lakers got a deal done before he could fly to the Bay Area to meet with the Warriors and possibly seal a deal.
— Brown talked about the interview with the Lakers. He said that in the middle of the interview, GM Mitch Kupchak said that the Lakers had lost control of the interview and Brown had taken over — but that wasn’t a problem.
— Brown said he won’t call Phil Jackson. “Right now it is not necessary for me to do that,” Brown said. He said he just doesn’t know Jackson. Brown said Brian Shaw is not on his list of potential assistants right now. Brown wants to see who he gets.
— Brown said he sat down face-to-face with Kobe Bryant. He said they talked about family, and then later on got into basketball philosophy. “When I first talked to him, I think I talked to his wife more than I talked to him,” Brown said.
— Brown emphasized that defense wins championships, and said the two teams playing in the Finals prove that.
— Brown said that the Cavaliers were close to landing Amar’e Stoudemire last season. “We were close, but at the end of the day it just didn’t work out,” Brown said.
— Brown weighed in on Shaquille O’Neal. He said that Shaq was very effective for him before he got hurt. Brown even said they ran their offense through LeBron.