The Cleveland Cavaliers fired coach Mike Brown for the second time on Monday. They had fired him four years ago in 2010.
This is the second season in a row where Brown has been fired. He was fired by the Los Angeles Lakers five games into the 2012-13 season. The Cavaliers rehired him last year. Under Brown the Cavaliers went 33-49 according to the Associated Press. Brown led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2009. He has a 347-216 career record, which is ninth best among coaches with 500 games in NBA history.
''This is a very tough business,'' Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said in a statement. ''It pains all of us here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown. Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction. Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction. We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best.''
Gilbert also said that interim general manager David Griffin would be the team full-time general manager. Griffin had replaced Chris Grant, who was fired midseason.
The search for Brown’s replacement will be lead by Griffin. Chicago Bulls assistant coach Adrian Griffin is the top candidate to be Brown’s successor, according to USA Today. The Cavaliers are expected to be very active in free agency this summer and offer Kyrie Irving a maximum contract extension.