Everyman Coach Mike Brown Could Become a New Man If Warriors Win Championship

Mike Brown is already starting to look different, isn't he?

Just standing there with the sheen of Golden State greatness on him, piling up nothing but victories in this playoff season…and now in position to defeat LeBron James in the title round after being stigmatized as the only coach other than David Blatt with whom a mature LeBron hasn't won.

The company we keep is so central to both confidence and image, and Brown's stature is changing each day he holds this temporary authority as the Warriors' head coach. How easily the line can blur between the idea that someone is "the great Warriors' coach" as opposed to "the Warriors' great coach." If Golden State beats Cleveland in the NBA Finals while Steve Kerr is off the bench for health reasons, Brown's route takes on an inspiring tone after how uninspired he looked in previous jobs.

To be clear, Brown is a good guy who has always worked hard, which is why he wound up making it all the way up the ladder from community college player to unpaid video coordinator intern to head coach in the NBA. But his failures in that head-coach spotlight left a lasting image of Brown as an everyman in way over his head as a leader. Seriously, who gets fired twice from the same job in Cleveland?

Brown's tenure in Los Angeles as the Lakers head coach was marked by players and even staffers ridiculing him for droning on and on in overly long meetings to the point that people were dozing off. Brown was a surprising choice for the job, which he only got because he was so prolifically well researched with data and files that it charmed notorious non-people-person Jim Buss in his interview. The morning Brown got fired, he was spotted at Chick-fil-A grabbing grub like the most regular guy.

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Breaking Bad showed us how patently unthreatening a nondescript, bespectacled, nice man standing in a fast-food chicken spot appears, and Brown certainly is the type to shrug and kindly push his glasses up on his nose every few minutes. When he first met Dwight Howard upon his arrival with the Lakers, Brown gushed like an entourage wannabe about how many points his son just scored with Howard in a Lakers uniform in NBA 2K the night before.

Brown's earnest agreeableness exemplifies that everyman character that goes with such a common first and last name and extra-friendly grin. He's the guy who in L.A. tried in vain to get his local newspaper to stop sending him a free trial subscription, then saw his helplessness exacerbated by his wife's frustration at the paper cluttering the outside of their house.

Now, however, Brown looks downright empowered with the weapons at his disposal. If Draymond Green doesn't singlehandedly overturn the newspaper delivery truck, there's Kevin Durant at the mailbox, Stephen Curry in the driveway and Klay Thompson's bulldog guarding the yard.

To his credit, Brown is getting the job done. After lasting only five games into his second season with the Lakers and one season in his second stretch coaching the Cavs, these Warriors have torched a historic 12-0 playoff blitz through the Western Conference. And after Kerr said Monday he is still unready to coach, it's becoming increasingly impossible to view Brown in the old sad-sack way.

That's the power of being part of a collective force. It was that same effect that elevated the profile of Luke Walton early last season while he served as Kerr's stand-in and Golden State likewise had historic success.

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Now in Brown's former job as the Lakers head coach earlier than he ever imagined, Walton is fully aware of the whole being greater than his part in Golden State. While the Warriors went 24-0 to start last season with Kerr ailing, Walton was both heralded for the accomplishment and blown off for just being along for the ride.

When the latter would happen, Walton wasn't offended, but he was irked because he didn't like people diminishing the worth of a profession he came to treasure while operating under Lute Olson, Phil Jackson and Kerr.

But Walton does acknowledge that working with a team possessing outstanding leadership from veteran players and operating inside a warm, open culture already forged by Kerr and Golden State management is not the toughest of tasks.

Both Walton and Brown deserve credit for moving into pressure-filled situations and functioning like grateful stewards instead of putting the B.S. in boss.

This job has not looked too big for Brown. This is the test for any man or woman in any measure: Are you making the most of your situation?

If Brown is the winning coach over James in one of the most highly anticipated NBA Finals of all time, it will mean a lot for Brown—regardless of if he is only doing a little. It might even mean having the best postseason record ever.

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

And it would further change the perception of Brown, as it should.

Maybe he couldn't have gotten more out of LeBron's teams, considering the supporting talent in Cleveland. Perhaps the personality clashes in Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant's squads were too much for any coach to overcome.

But Brown can't become more commanding in 2009. He can't make himself more captivating in 2012.

He can only be Mike Brown in 2017, and make chicken salad out of arguably the most gourmet ingredients anyone in this league has ever seen.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.