Larry Brown Resigns as Bobcats Coach, Paul Silas Named Interim Coach|Bio|wiki:Larry Brown has stepped down as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, the team announced Wednesday. Hours later, the team named former Charlotte Hornets coach Paul Silas as interim coach.After going 44-38 last season and falling to Orlando in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Bobcats struggled to a 9-19 start this season that sparked what is being deemed a mutual decision between Brown and Charlotte chairman and CEO Michael Jordan.
"The team has clearly not lived up to either of our expectations and we both agreed that a change was necessary," Jordan said in the team's release. "This was a difficult decision for both of us, but one that needed to be made. I want to thank Larry for everything he has done for our team. He has played a key role in this organization's development including coaching us to our first-ever playoff appearance last season."
Brown will "continue to be a valuable advisor" to Jordan regarding the team, he added.
A source close to the Bobcats said Brown's entire coaching staff was let go, and that the infamously-nomadic Brown, who was owed a combined $7 million on a contract that runs through next season, is on the lookout for a head coaching job again and is not interested in retiring.
Silas, who still lives in the Charlotte area, was quickly confirmed by FanHouse as the leading candidate for the job after Brown's dismissal. He hasn't coached since he was fired in Cleveland in 2005 and holds an all-time record of 355-400, but told FanHouse last summer that the Bobcats job was the only one he would consider accepting in a return.
"If an opportunity would come about, say here (in Charlotte), I might look at it," he said. "But to be quite honest with you, I've been through the wars, and I look at these guys and the pressure that they have got to go through, and it's for young people. (The Bobcats job) would be the only thing -- maybe for one or two years, if the Bobcats job (opened up) or something like that. Other than that, I'm not going to move around anymore."
Other candidates believed to have been considered, according to the source, include former Atlanta coach Mike Woodson, Orlando assistant and longtime Jordan friend Patrick Ewing and Detroit assistant Darrell Walker. Utah assistant Ty Corbin, San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer, Phoenix assistant Dan Majerle, Houston assistant Elston Turner and Miami assistant Bob McAdoo were also discussed.
Brown joined the Bobcats in April 2008, ending a near two-year hiatus from the game that followed his messy firing in New York. The Hall of Famer entered this season with an all-time record of 1009-885 in 26 season. He is the only coach to lead eight NBA teams to the playoffs and the only coach to have won championships with an NBA team (Detroit, 2004) and an NCAA team (Kansas,
