Report: Mike Brown fired by Lakers

The Mike Brown era is over in Los Angeles.

Lakers coach Mike Brown has been fired, USA TODAY Sports has learned – usat.ly/VN9aQ4—
Sam Amick (@sam_amick) November 09, 2012

Problem with link being fixed. Brown's agent, Warren LeGarie, told USA TODAY Sports Brown is gone. Source close to situation confirms too.—
Sam Amick (@sam_amick) November 09, 2012

Sam Amick of USA Today reports that the Lakers have parted company with Head Coach Mike Brown just five games into the 2012-2013 NBA season. However, with a 1-4 record and a star-studded roster, it hasn’t been a very good five games.

Brown’s Lakers team added All-Star players in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash over the summer. They, along with Kobe Bryant, were widely predicted to dominate the league, but the team has struggled at both ends of the floor. The last straw for Brown was apparently Wednesday’s 95-86 loss in Salt Lake City, a loss that didn’t sit well with Bryant.

Former Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan has been linked with the position, while former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni is known to be well respected by both Nash and Bryant. Further, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports in a tweet that D’Antoni has been specifically discussed amongst Lakers management.

As Lakers ownership has been considering firing of Brown, Mike D'Antoni has been a prominent name discussed as replacement, sources tell Y!—
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) November 09, 2012

However, no announcement has been made yet on a new hire. Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports that assistant coach Chuck Person is likely to take over as an interim solution.

Lakers are in process of appointing interim coach to replace Mike Brown, with Chuck Person having the edge over Steve Clifford, sources say.—
Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) November 09, 2012