Morning Briefing: Mike McCarthy is not happy with the Green Bay Packers

Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy led the team for 13 seasons, with a Super Bowl title in that run. He was unceremoniously fired a couple of days after last season ended with a disappointing loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

He hasn’t said much about the firing, until this week.

Talking to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, McCarthy said, “Obviously, it couldn’t have been handled any worse.”

“And when I was told [team president] Mark Murphy wanted to see me — the messenger was cold and the energy was bad. Mark said it was an ugly loss, and it was time to make a change. He said something about the offense and the special teams, and he didn’t think it was going to get any better. There was no emotion to it. That was hard.

“Every time I released an individual, you get your words right. There’s a personal component to it. You know he has a family. He’s family. There wasn’t any of that [for me]. So that was off.

“If we missed the playoffs, I expected change might happen. But the timing surprised me. Actually it stunned me. But time provides the opportunity for reflection and clarity and that’s where I’m at now. And it’s clear to me now that both sides needed a change.”

Big money

Former New York Knicks star Charles Oakley knows how disappointing his former team has been the last few years. The Knicks haven’t been to the playoffs since the 2012-13 season and could finish with the worst record in team history this season.

But Oakley believes help may be on the way.

Oakley told the website “The Ringer” that the believes Amazon.com owner Jeff Bezos will buy the team.

“I heard that Jeff Bezos wants to buy the Knicks,” Oakley said. “He was going to try to do Amazon in Long Island City, and he went to Virginia. So he still wanted to do some real estate in New York. So why not buy the Garden?”

But does Bezos have the money to pull off such a deal?

“That’s someone you can’t question,” Oakley said. “It’s not like he needs to get three or four other investors. He’s the investor, himself.”

We’re No. 1

The Alliance of American Football has indefinitely suspended operation in a move that seems to be a precursor to folding the league entirely. And one of their famous coaches isn’t happy about it.

Orlando Apollos coach Steve Spurrier bemoaned the status of the league on Tuesday after the news broke.

“Everybody wanted to play out the season and everybody is disappointed,” Spurrier told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Everyone was led to believe that the alliance was well funded and we could play three years without making any money and this, that and the other. Obviously, everything that was said was not very truthful.

“On the other side, we’ve got to be [declared] the champs right? We’re 7-1, and the next teams are 5-3.”

Champions of a league that folded halfway through the season certainly ought to be enough to get Spurrier into the AAF Hall of Fame.