The Golden State Warriors have reportedly tabbed former Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown as their next top assistant coach.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical of Yahoo! Sports, “Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has offered his top assistant coaching job to Mike Brown.”
Brown was twice the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and once of the Los Angeles Lakers. He would replace former Golden State top assistant Luke Walton, who will now take over a rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers team after the firing of Byron Scott.
Brown is best known for his strong defensive-minded approach to coaching and for being the guy on the sidelines when LeBron James first took the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, only to be swept by Brown’s former employer, the San Antonio Spurs.
Entering the 2016-17 NBA campaign, Brown has a career record as a head coach of 347-216, and he guided Cleveland to the 2007 NBA Finals and the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. Defense is a crucial part of the pace and space era of the NBA, and if Brown joins the Warriors, it could be the first step on his road to a fourth head coaching position.
Fortunately for Brown, he will inherit several high-IQ defensive players already on Golden State’s roster. Shooting guard Klay Thompson is one of the best on-ball defenders in the game in the back court. Center Andrew Bogut is one of the best rim protectors in the game. Small forward Andre Iguodala is the best defender of James in the league. Power forward Draymond Green can guard anybody 6’5″ or taller at any position.
This seems like an obvious move for Kerr to make. Golden State likely won’t skip a beat with Brown as the Warriors’ new elite defensive coordinator. Defense has never been an issue with any team Brown has coached for.
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