Former Lakers and Cavs head coach Mike Brown. (Photo : Getty Images)
Former Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown has been offered an assistant coaching position by the Golden State Warriors as a potential replacement for Luke Walton.
Walton was hired by the Lakers in April to become its head coach for the incoming season, replacing the fired Byron Scott, and so the Warriors lack one assistant in Steve Kerr's coaching staff.
Yahoo Sports reported that Kerr "has offered his top assistant coaching job to Mike Brown" recently and "terms of the deal still need to be worked out" although there are no indications whether the 2009 NBA Coach of the Year awardee desired to come back and coach in the NBA again.
Brown handled the Cavs from 2005 to 2010 before replacing Phil Jackson during his tumultuous stint with the Lakers for one season and five games in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. He then went back to Cleveland for another season in 2013-2014 after getting fired in Los Angeles until he was relieved again and replaced by David Blatt in May of 2014.
From there, he was a presence in the coaching staff of his close friend and mentor Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, although he is not officially hired. He was an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards, Spurs, and Indiana Pacers prior to his first head coaching run in Cleveland.
Meanwhile, NBC Sports noted that Brown and former Sacramento Kings interim coach Tyrone Corbin had been the top two choices of Kerr to join him next season, but the former has always been the favorite to land the job.
Recent reports were out that Corbin accepted a deal with the Phoenix Suns to join Earl Watson's coaching staff and so Kerr is now actually left with Brown as his only option to replace Walton.
Brown's record as a head coach is a respectable 347-216 (61.6 percent) as he had always been a brilliant bench tactician during regular seasons but had constantly struggled in the playoffs.
In his first stint in Cleveland, he led the Cavs to 50 wins or more in four of his five seasons with the squad and 60 wins or more in the last two. He spearheaded LeBron James and the Cavs to reach the NBA Finals in 2007, but they lost to the Spurs via a sweep.
