Five games into the 2012 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Mike Brown, according to a report by Sam Amick. The team acquired superstar big man Dwight Howard, signed Steve Nash and added Antawn Jamison to the mix during the offseason, so analysts from around the league set the expectations very high for the Lakers. They opened the year with a disappointing 1-4 record and lost games to inferior teams, and then Kobe Bryant shot Brown the "death stare" from the bench during a recent contest.. Rumors are circulating that the team could reach out to Mike D'Antoni to replace Brown as head coach.
Brown led the Lakers to a 41-25 record in 2011-12 during his first season with the team, but during the offseason he started tweaking the offensive system in odd ways. The team quietly added assistant coach Eddie Jordan to implement the Princeton Offense -- a scheme predicated on constant motion, backdoor cuts, and wing or high-post entries as common points of initiation.
The Lakers currently hold the No. 6 ranking in Offensive Rating, but their defense has been terrible. Brown has carried a reputation as a defensive coach, but the Lakers own the No. 23 defensive rating in the NBA through five games.
Brown is 481-314 in his career as an NBA head coach, which equates to a .653 winning percentage.