Larry Brown: Destination Denver?

23-59. 

That was Larry Brown's record during his lone year as the Head Coach of the New York Knicks back in 2005-2006.  A disaster of a season marred by public criticism on his part of particular Knick players, with similar return volleys from such overpaid, consistently losing ballers as Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury, that year was one Mr. Brown, the organization, and fans certainly want to forget.  And while that ugly losing continues in Gotham under the dubious tutelage of a one Isiah Thomas, Mr. Brown has remained unemployed, and for the most part off the radar of certain NBA owners and GM's who are looking to make over their struggling organizations and start anew.  That is, until recently.

Some rumors had surfaced last month that Brown could be headed to the Chicago Bulls.  Those were quickly squashed by John Paxson, the general manager in Chi-town, once heralded and now highly questioned in a season gone awry.  And that, along with Brown's historic tendency to get back into the game for his love of it if nothing else, has helped bring his name back to the forefront of those considered for any NBA head coaching vacancies coming season's end. 

It was only a matter of time really.  No great coach wants to go out at 23-59.  No one who has led two different colleges to national title games, the second resulting in a championship at Kansas in 1988.  No one who has led seven, yes seven, different NBA organizations to the postseason.  No one who has led one of those recent teams, the Detroit Pistons, to an NBA title in his first season there in 2003-04 and just missed out on having back-to-back rings by losing a tightly contested game seven to the dynastical San Antonio Spurs.

As Christopher Plummer's character, 60 Minutes Mike Wallace, puts it in The Insider, the proud and aging often think, "How will I be regarded in the end?"  And chances are, Larry Brown does not want to be remembered for his disastrous season in New York.  No chance in hell.  Chances also are that at his age, he doesn't want to walk into the Memphis Grizzlies of the world and start from scratch.  Heck, let's be honest, okay?  He probably just wants to win, win now, and leave in about three years like he's done just about everywhere he's gone.  And to do that means he'd need to find a team who already has pieces to the puzzle, is fairly close to a ring, but not totally content with their current head coach.  That list is not very long.  

Mike Brown could easily be outdone in Cleveland.  Avery Johnson's micromanagement, along with a horrendously bad trade to acquire Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitski's injury that's sending the Mavs' season into a tailspin, have the vultures circling overhead of Dallas as well.  But no other place seems to make more sense because of their current situation than Denver.

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