Brown Is Said to Be Preference for Clipper Job : Pro basketball: Sources say team would be willing to offer former Spur coach a four- or five-year deal.

The Clippers, although officially declining to identify their candidate, have targeted former UCLA and San Antonio Spur coach Larry Brown to replace Mike Schuler, sources said Monday.

Brown and his agent, Joe Glass, did not return phone messages, but sources close to the situation confirmed the choice.

Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor, during practice at the Sports Arena, would say only that he has made contact with a candidate and hopes to have a coach with NBA experience running the team by the end of this weekend.

Mike Fratello, the other finalist when Schuler got the job before the 1990-91 season, also has been reported as a successor. But Fratello said Monday that the Clippers had not talked to him about the opening.

It is believed that Brown, fired Jan. 21 by the Spurs, is the top choice to become the Clippers’ seventh coach in 11 years. Team officials say they are prepared to offer a four- or five-year deal to Brown, who averaged $700,000 annually in San Antonio.

Schuler, who will get about $300,000 this season and next, was fired Sunday after more than two months of speculation. Baylor cited “the level of tension and general uneasiness on the team,” although he said continued media reports chronicling problems did not contribute to the decision.

Foremost among the problems was a breakdown in communication with several players and a disregard of Schuler’s authority. The most recent--and most prominent--incident came in San Antonio the day before Brown was fired, when Clipper players voted 11-0 to cancel practice that day in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Behind the scenes, it was a response to flying a commercial airliner with no first-class seating and a stopover that caused some luggage to be delayed. It was seen as a slap at a coach many realized was already in a tenuous position.

“Some guys got involved in it more than they should have,” said guard Doc Rivers, the most vocal Schuler supporter. “Others didn’t. Players should play and let the front office take care of the other things.”

The Clippers, losers of four of their last five and nine of their last 13, have two games before the all-star break, tonight against the Dallas Mavericks at the Sports Arena and Wednesday against the Lakers at the Forum.

Mack Calvin, a veteran assistant coach who became Schuler’s interim replacement but has not been given hope for the long-term job, is expected to be in charge for those two, but not much longer.

Tonight marks Calvin’s NBA coaching debut, although he did serve as player-coach for 27 games in 1976 with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Assn.

It brings mixed emotions--the excitement of something he has looked forward to for years, but also the disappointment in knowing it is fleeting.

The product of Long Beach Poly High, Long Beach City College and USC, mentioned as a head coaching possibility for years and a favorite with some Clipper players, could not hide his feelings Monday.

“It is very difficult for me to take,” Calvin said, adding that he plans to wait until the off-season to decide if he wants to return to the Clippers or try to find a better opportunity with another team. “(It also is) disappointing . . . to a lot of people in this league who know me and believe in me. That’s how this league is. I’ll make the best of it.

“I’ll be there (a head coach) someday. You can count on that.”

Calvin met with Baylor for 90 minutes Sunday but was told he had no chance to keep the job.

The Clippers remember promoting Don Casey, also an assistant popular with players, and then having to fire Casey after 1 1/2 seasons after he fell out of disfavor with the same players.

Brown has experience as an NBA coach with San Antonio, the Denver Nuggets and New Jersey Nets. But the biggest appeal to the Clippers is how they view his personality--confident, demanding but fair, commanding respect.

Schuler’s next move is not known. Golden State Coach and General Manager Don Nelson, a longtime friend who brought Schuler on as an assistant coach after he was fired by the Portland Trail Blazers, said Monday before the Warriors played at Orlando that his staff is full and expects no additions.