Brown, Knicks Reach a Deal

Larry Brown may burn bridges wherever he goes, but he always makes it safely to the other side -- and someone’s always there to greet him.

Only nine days removed from a messy split with the Detroit Pistons, their owner taking a verbal swipe at him while showing him the door, the well-traveled Brown will be introduced today as coach of the New York Knicks.

It will be the 11th coaching job for the nomadic Brown, his eighth in the NBA, and he reportedly will be paid between $50 million and $60 million over five years, which would be the richest coaching contract in professional sports history.

His agent, Joe Glass, declined to comment on the particulars in an interview with Associated Press on Wednesday night but said the deal was done.

The Knicks’ official courting of Brown started in earnest last week within hours of the coach’s reaching a severance agreement with the Pistons, one that reportedly paid him $7 million. But mutual interest was established months ago.

Last season, while still coaching the Pistons, the Brooklyn-reared Brown, 64, acknowledged that coaching the Knicks would be his “dream job.”

Meanwhile, Knick President Isiah Thomas put off hiring his next coach while waiting out the playoffs to see whether Brown would become available.

The coach, whose resume includes stints at UCLA and with the Clippers, faces a tough task in trying to revitalize the Knicks, who were 33-49 last season and haven’t finished above .500 since the 2000-01 season.

But he guided the Pistons to the NBA championship in 2004 in the first year of a five-year contract and to within one victory of a repeat last month.

Last season, though, was filled with distractions tied to the coach’s medical problems and reports linking him to jobs with several other teams, which he only inflamed through wistful comments. By the time he and the club parted ways July 19 there seemed little love lost between them.

Glass said Brown wanted to return but had been fired.

Bill Davidson, who owns the Pistons, told a TV interviewer that parting ways with Brown was “kind of easy. ... You’ve got to understand that whoever coaches the Pistons represents me. And I’m not going to give [the team and its fans] somebody that’s not a good person.”

Thomas, though, didn’t hesitate in pursuing Brown, who in addition to the Pistons and Clippers also has coached the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers.

He started his coaching career with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA and also coached at Kansas, winning an NCAA title in 1988.

Brown’s restlessness, medical problems and clashes with Knick star Stephon Marbury during the 2004 Olympics did not dissuade the Knicks, who acted quickly in bringing him on board to replace interim coach Herb Williams.

Marbury, who played for Brown last summer in Athens, endorsed the coach’s hiring, last week calling the decision to pursue him a “no-brainer.”

Brown had hip surgery in November and another operation for a bladder infection in March, missing 17 games. He said he “got real close” to quitting after his second surgery. But he came back and the Pistons closed the season on a high note, reaching the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, even as reports surfaced that Brown was talking to the Cleveland Cavaliers about taking over their presidency.

He had surgery again last month, shortly after the Pistons lost to the Spurs in Game 7 of the Finals, but said he was fit enough to continue coaching.