Magic: Brown Will be Fired if Series Lost
Should the Lakers lose Saturday in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, Magic Johnson has a definite idea on what will happen next.
“They’re going to run Mike Brown first out of town,” (Magic) Johnson said as an ESPN NBA analyst Friday. “Then second will be [Andrew] Bynum. Then third will be [Pau] Gasol.”
Whether that will happen remains unclear.
The Lakers’ front office has publicly praised Brown’s performance as head coach in his first season. Brown, who makes an average of $4.5 million a year, has two more guaranteed years followed by a team option. The Times’ Mike Bresnahan talked to Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who indicated in March his intention to exercise the $16.1-million option for the last year of Bynum’s contract. Gasol had been the subject of endless trade rumors since the Lakers’ attempt to trade him for Chris Paul. The Lakers forward is owed $38.3 million for the next two seasons.
ESPN analyst Chris Broussard expressed skepticism that Brown’s job security is in jeopardy, but Johnson stayed insistent.
“His job will go,” Johnson said. “The Lakers are about championships. That’s what the Lakers are about. If they lose this game, Mike Brown, I bet you, will not be sitting there.”
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