By// Kendra D. Cusic
The Los Angeles Lakers have fired Mike Brown as head coach after a disappointing 1-4 start to the season, reports Yahoo! Sports.
“I have great respect for the Buss family and the Lakers’ storied tradition and I thank them for the opportunity they afforded me,” Brown said in a statement Friday. “I have a deep appreciation for the coaches and players that I worked with this past year and I wish the organization nothing but success as they move forward.”
While under the direction of Brown, the Lakers struggled to an 0-3 start for the first time since the 1978-79 season, which was right before Jerry Buss bought the team. The Lakers gained their only win of the year against the Detroit Pistons and their fourth loss of the season was at Wednesday’s game against Utah Jazz.
Yahoo! reports that assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will serve as interim coach until a long term replacement is found.
The Lakers were expected to make a big improvement with the additions of Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison. However, Brown, a defensive coach, carried out assistant Eddie Jordan’s Princeton system, which didn’t settle well in Los Angeles as their big-name roster couldn’t mesh on offense.
Former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has been mentioned as a possible replacement head coach, according to Yahoo! Sports.
