Mike Brown Has Been Let Go by The Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers fired Coach Mike Brown after five seasons with the team, late Sunday night. The decision came quickly before the franchise would have to pay Brown his $4.5 million salary for next season.

As of Monday morning the Cavaliers are without a coach and Brown is without a job. The Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced the news Monday morning from Cleveland.  The decision had to be made within 10 days of the end of the season so the Cavalier franchise could avoid paying Brown another year’s worth of salary.

Brown has been one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He led the team to the NBA playoffs five times, the NBA finals once, and established one of the most successful records in the team’s history, 272-138, over his five years. He was even nominated 2009 Coach of the Year by members of the press. But even this was not enough to save his job. He needed to win an NBA playoff if he wanted to remain in Cleveland.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer Dan Gilbert, the team owner, said, "After a long and deep analysis of all of the factors that led to the disappointing early ends to our playoff runs over the past two seasons, we concluded that it was time for the Cavaliers to move in a different direction.”

That new direction is one that does not include Brown.

For now, there is speculation about who will become the next Cavaliers coach, but no one has officially been named by the organization as an official candidate for the position.