NBA Insider with Ken Berger

When I finish my work day, I am going to track down Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated and ask him for some stock picks, a horse or two for the Kentucky Derby, and some lottery numbers to play.

Intrigued by Larry Brown’s comments to the Philadelphia Inquirer about how it would be “almost impossible” for him to say no to Michael Jordan if asked to coach the Charlotte Bobcats, I started poking around the Internet to do some research. One of the first things that came up when I Googled Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas was the following passage posted by Thomsen on SI.com on July 21, 2005:

NBA colleagues are supplying Thomas with two pieces of advice. First, to understand that his relationship with Brown will ultimately end badly, because it usually does with Brown. Second, Thomas is being told to maintain firm control over his team. The internal fire that makes Brown an exceptional coach also makes him an erratic judge of talent, as he changes his opinions about players frequently. In spite of their ugly divorce, the Pistons feel that they achieved their goals with Brown because he won them a championship without being allowed to meddle with their well-balanced roster. The Knicks' lineup still requires a lot of improvement, but Thomas needs to cautious about taking too much advice from Brown about personnel, and always keep in mind that he is still going to be running the Knicks long after Brown is gone.

You can read the whole thing here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/ian_thomsen/07/21/artest/1.html

Does any of that sound familiar? All of it should. And that is why Jordan should proceed with caution when it comes to hiring Brown to be his coach in Charlotte.

Brown is still employed by the Philadelphia 76ers, but his flirtation with Jordan is starting out eerily similar to his flirtation with Isiah two years ago. Here is what Brown told Stephen A. Smith of the Inquirer and 1050 ESPN Radio yesterday, after Jordan announced that Bernie Bickerstaff will not be back to coach the Bobcats next season:

"I don't know about anything right now, and that includes Charlotte. No one has contacted me. I have no idea what to expect, and I really don't care, at the moment, because I'm enjoying my life watching the game of basketball, being around a lot of the coaches and just getting my enthusiasm back.

"As far as Charlotte goes, everyone knows I have a very special relationship with Michael. I've known him for years. We're family, and I love him. So saying 'no' to him would be almost impossible for me, just because it would be hard for me to say 'No' to him about anything. But I haven't heard anything from him and I have no idea what my future holds."

It’s all here: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/16899161.htm.

Everyone loves to say what a bad basketball executive Isiah has been. Well, the most recent and perhaps worst mistake he made was hiring Brown. Jordan’s bitter rivalry with Isiah goes back to the infamous All-Star freeze-out and the Dream Team’s snub of Zeke. Now M.J. has a chance to stick it to Isiah one more time. And in doing so, he’ll only be repeating Isiah’s biggest mistake.

Good luck, Michael.