Source – “These are bizarre days for Mike Brown, who finds himself at a crossroads of several unprecedented situations.
First, he’s acting Golden State Warriors head coach for Steve Kerr. Thursday night, he won his first Finals game. It came against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are still sending him regular paychecks and will be until 2020.
“It feels a little surreal,” Brown said. “Right now, I’m just kind of taking everything in stride.”
Naturally, there has been some interest in just how this all came to be, how it could even be possible. Unless you’re a significant NBA fan, you might have even forgotten Brown coached the Cavs in the 2013-14 season, the genesis of the contract he’s being paid for.
Brown was able to drive a fantastic deal for himself in the spring of 2013 when the Cavs fired Byron Scott. Brown’s deal was for more than $20 million over five years, though the last year of the deal was partially guaranteed.
When Brown was fired in May 2014, a provision in the contract spread the payments out over the next six years. Brown will get all the money guaranteed him, with the amount he’s paid as part of his Golden State Warriors contract being deducted, and the Cavs pay the balance. This is known as an “offset.”
Mike Brown, you are a boss! Brown is collecting pay cheques from both teams in the finals… what’s next? Is he in with the refs too? Perhaps parlaying some bets, take the over Mikey!
This must be quite the feeling for the guy. He gets to take his new girlfriend to the party, while his ex-girlfriend essentially paid for the tickets. Mike Brown has already won.
Not only does he want to beat the Cavs and add to what already is a debatable finals record for LeBron, he wants to sweep them. He wants to demolish them, and that is all Dan Gilbert’s fault. The guy got fired in 2010 after back-to-back 60-win seasons. How does that even happen? Dan Gilbert has come out candidly and admitted that it was a mistake. So how does Gilbert make up for his mistake? He re-hires him for the 2013-2014 season, just to show him the door again after a disappointing record and some beef with Kyrie Irving.
Was it Mike Brown’s fault they went 33-49 that year? Hell no. Their roster was weak; they had the number pick in the draft in 2013 and picked Anthony Bennett. Giannis Adetokunbo went 15th. Well played, Gilbert.
So regardless of which team you are rooting for during these finals (maybe you’re just tuning in for Rihanna, who knows), one thing is for sure. Mike Brown is the real MVP.
