Now Brown Needs to Get Iverson in His Corner

From San Antonio to Indiana to Philadelphia--Larry Brown, the vagabond genius of basketball coaching, continues to work his way closer and closer to me. (I know I’ve told you that Larry was my old camp counselor. But have I ever told you the camp was in Pennsylvania! So now Larry is just a three-hour drive or so from camp in case there’s a reunion.)

Philadelphia will be better immediately with Brown. Careful now, I said “better”--not good. The 76ers have no chance of being good until they rid themselves of Derrick Coleman, even if it means buying up his contract; Coleman is a coach killer.

But the immediate beneficiary of Brown’s presence will be Allen Iverson, who should be the best point guard in the NBA within two seasons--if he listens to Brown. This collaboration could be like Yoda teaching Luke Skywalker. I just hope Iverson can hear Brown. It might help if Iverson uncovers his ears by taking off that white spandex thing he wore to claim the rookie-of-the-year award. I’m so tragically unhip, was that a hat or a thigh brace?

Brown was a point guard himself. He was good enough at North Carolina that El Deano designed the “Four Corners” with him in mind. He was good enough in the ABA to be the MVP of the All-Star game. He knows how to play that position. And he knows how to coach.

Forget his NCAA title at Kansas, or his trip to the Final Four with UCLA, or the division titles he won with David Thompson in Denver and David Robinson in San Antonio--all anyone has to know about Larry Brown’s coaching is that he made the playoffs with the Clippers and the Nets. It’s hard for me to imagine Iverson and Jerry Stackhouse not blossoming under Brown.

By opting for Philly, Brown left the Boston job open. By excusing M.L. “More Losses” Carr, the Celtics became the 11th team in the NBA to change coaches since the start of this season. Eleven out of 28 so far, with action perhaps pending in Portland and at the Clippers. Despite the Celtics’ abysmal performance lately, Boston is still the most glamorous coaching job in the NBA. The Bulls, the Cowboys and the Braves are all the rage now, but when you’re talking about historical grandeur, you’re talking about the New York Yankees, the Green Bay Packers and the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics’ choice is Little Ricky Pitino, who, like Larry Brown, wins a lot and moves around a lot. Pitino spent the past seven years in Kentucky, where he has rebuilt the program to the point that he is perceived somewhat like the Dalai Lama--with a side order of spaghetti. Like Brown, Pitino has won an NCAA championship. Like Brown, Pitino will immediately make his new team better. (And a change of scenery might make Pitino game to write his third autobiography.)

In the recent past Pitino resisted all offers from the NBA, though he has gone out of his way to agonize over them in public, and has thus become the longest-running Hamlet since Laurence Olivier. This time, however, may be different. The Celtics have reportedly offered Pitino $70 million for 10 years, plus part ownership of the team, like Pat Riley has in Miami.

Kentucky can’t give him a piece of the school--anyway, the school will always be in Kentucky. Pitino’s an East Coast boy. He grew up on Long Island, went to school at UMass, coached at Boston, Providence and New York. Nothing in his resume says “mint julep required.”

It’s one thing to turn down the Nets, as Pitino did last year. Having coached the Knicks, Pitino knew that no matter how well he did in Jersey, it would still be in Jersey--it would never supersede New York. But the Boston job is even more prestigious than the Knicks’. Plus, if the lottery goes well, Boston could find itself with Tim Duncan, a player you can build a team around. Duncan is the best center to come out of the draft since Shaquille O’Neal.

The most fascinating name to come up in NBA coaching discussions is Larry Joe Bird’s. Bird has been offered the Indiana job that Brown vacated. There is no question that French Lick’s own homeboy will fill the seats in Indianapolis. But can he coach? (And why would he want to? Has watching Danny Ainge’s instantaneous success given him the bug?)

Bird was a superstar. Historically, the problem with superstars as coaches is that superstars aren’t patient; they have trouble understanding why players don’t make plays like they did. Bill Russell seemed uninterested in Seattle and Sacramento. Wilt Chamberlain was an “in name only” coach in the ABA; he sometimes showed up to coach a half-hour before the tip. Jerry West coached for three seasons in Los Angeles, and he seemed relieved to be done with it. Magic Johnson lasted about an hour before his players disgusted him--and compared with Bird, Magic has the patience of Job.

So you’ve got Brown getting $5 million, Pitino getting maybe $7 million, and Bird getting God knows how many million for his first time coaching anywhere (it’s like getting Tom Cruise to do a TV series). And for all their acclaim none of those guys has an NBA championship ring for coaching. Phil Jackson has four! Wait until he starts entertaining offers. It’s gonna be like Las Vegas.