Brown met his championship challenge
As someone who relished the grind behind the scenes, Mike Brown suddenly became the center of attention.
The Warriors assistant coach recently appeared at the Churchills Club where he accepted the “Magical Team Award” on behalf of Golden State for winning its second NBA championship in the past three seasons. Before and afterward, Brown chatted endlessly with fans eager to pepper him with questions about the Warriors, as well as his head-coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2005-10, 2013-14) and the Lakers (2011-12). Later, Brown spoke about various issues entering his second season as the Warriors’ assistant coach.
QTake me through that time when you found out you would be the interim coach during most of the playoffs, and what you got out of that experience.
A“It’s probably one of the toughest things I’ve had to walk into. I just relied on the experiences I had in the past. I tried to figure out different scenarios good and bad that we may run into.”
QYou’ve been in that seat before as a head coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Lakers. But here, you’re inheriting that role under different circumstances. So how did you approach that?
A“If I needed to make an adjustment, it wouldn’t be something I did three days before a game. A lot of times it would be an in-game adjustment.”
QAfter you guys overcame a double-digit deficit against Portland in Game 3 in the first round of the playoffs, players credited your calm demeanor on the sideline. How were you able to have that approach during those tough moments?
A“(Steve’s) communication skills are on par with one of the greatest communicators of all time in Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. Their style is a little bit different. But it’s just as effective, just as powerful and garners just as much as Pop does.”
QYou’ve been known for working long hours with film sessions and practices. So how did you adjust to the Warriors’ more laidback environment?
A“We’re able to do things together and put things on the fly because Steve always seems like he’s got a method to his madness in his head. Coming to this environment, it was a little bit of a shock.”
QUsing the Lakers as a point of reference, I remember a lot of players initially praised your practices and your attention to detail. But then they soon bemoaned the long shootarounds and film sessions. What difficulties did you sort through in determining how best to approach that?
A“I was not a talented basketball player. Even when I first got into the league and I decided I wanted to coach, it wasn’t a thing where ‘I’m smarter than this guy’ or ‘I know more about basketball than that guy.’ But one thing I always felt from middle school on up that I had control over was how hard I worked. …
“That’s something I wanted to bring to the Lakers. They were a veteran team. They were used to doing things a certain way with Phil (Jackson) and they had success doing it. … But one of the things I learned is how to manage a team a little bit better, especially a team that has a lot of veterans on it and that already had success.”
QIf there are opportunities to become a head coach, what would constitute an opportunity that would spark your interest?
A“This is probably the most enjoyable year for me coaching in my entire time in the league. That’s a tribute to the people I’m around, the environment and the culture with how things are ran and done. I’m happy where I am. So it would have to be a heck of an opportunity in a lot of different ways for me to leave here. But the reality of it is, I plan on being here until they fire me (laughs).”
QAnd so far, the Warriors won a championship and you had a better playoff record than Steve. Have you bragged about that to Steve?
A“No, the only thing I brag about when it comes to Steve and I, when he played for the Spurs, I used to work him out pregame. … I probably kicked his (butt) 65 percent of the time. He’ll disagree. I couldn’t play. But I was a hell of a defender.”
QWhat significance did you take from beating the Cavs considering they fired you twice?
A“There was some uniqueness and special feeling, not necessarily because it was Cleveland and I got fired by those guys. But I still have a lot of buddies back there. My son goes to school there and they are Cleveland fans. To be able to smack talk with those guys was more than a gratifying feeling.”
QHow do you prepare for any scenarios where you might be the interim head coach again?
A“If Steve takes time off again, I understand it’s my job to take the step up and take over the team. But in the meantime, I’m very excited about my role and looking forward to us heading into the year with Steve being healthy the entire year and competing for another championship.”