The Redemption of the King. Vince McKee

      CHAPTER TWO

      The Next Level

      The Cavaliers had narrowly missed the playoffs, and the team’s next move needed to be landing the right head coach. LeBron showed he could play at an elite caliber level, but he needed the right team around him with the best head coach to guide them in order to achieve national championship success. Former player Danny Ferry returned to Cleveland to become the general manager, and his biggest move was signing new head coach Mike Brown.

      Kenny Roda gave his input on why Mike Brown was chosen to be the next head coach to lead LeBron and the Cavaliers:

      Number one, Dan Gilbert was impatient, and I think he will admit that now. I liked Paul Silas and thought he was from the old school and taught things to LeBron James that only an old-school guy could teach. Mike Brown was coming from an organization in the San Antonio Spurs where they were the model team many teams wanted to structure themselves after because of the success that they had. Mike Brown was a defensive-minded coach from Gregg Popovich’s system and organization, and if you’re not going to hire a retread coach, then you’re going hire the young, up-and-coming assistant from a good program, and that is exactly what Mike Brown was. Dan Gilbert felt that with Mike Brown being around Popovich and watching him handle the likes of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, and players like that, based on his pedigree and his work ethic and ability to learn from Gregg Popovich, that put Mike Brown at the top of the Cavaliers wish list, and that is why they went after him so hard. Danny Ferry also had something to do with it and spent time in San Antonio as well. Danny Ferry knew of Mike and the Popovich way, so you can connect the dots there. A new owner, with Danny Ferry the new GM coming from San Antonio, and it kind of just fit the needs of the Cavaliers at that time.

      Mike Brown began his basketball career as an unpaid video intern with the Denver Nuggets. He would spend five years as their video coordinator. Then Brown went on to spend time on the coaching staffs of the Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs. Brown was with San Antonio when they won their NBA Championship in 2003. It was different then, the life of fame and high expectations that LeBron had for the last 10 years. For the Cavaliers fans, it would be interesting to see if the two personalities would mesh. Mike Brown was used to being around a team-oriented style of offense and not relying on just one superstar player. To his credit, as the years went on, LeBron was seen as the ultimate team player and one who made the players around him much better. Perhaps it was the best of both worlds for Mike Brown that his first coaching gig would have the game’s best up-and-coming player to lead it, and any playoff spot would be seen as an immediate impact in the right direction.

      Ken Carman, radio host of 92.3 The Fan, provided his thoughts on why they brought Mike Brown in:

      I think they brought him in because of the shared time that he had in San Antonio. A lot of guys—and we do this a lot, because he was an assistant for a great coach—we falsely assume he is going to be great. Mike Brown may have been a great assistant coach, but he was not ready for an NBA head coaching spot at that time. If Mike Brown was a college coach and had players listening to his every word, I think he would do very well at that level as a head coach. He really is a good guy with a lot of good things about him, and I think that when you have players listen to him the way they would have to in college I think he would do very well, much better than he did at the pro level. In the pros, this isn’t the Bill Fitch era anymore or the Red Auerbach era—now these players have egos. You have 12 different players with 12 egos and personalities to handle. There are a lot of guys that you have to rein in, and there is a pecking order, clearly. One of Mike Brown’s greatest challenges would be reining in the egos of players such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in his career.

      Jerry Mires supplied his input on the hiring of Coach Brown:

      A lot of it was because he was connected to that system, that San Antonio–type system that Dan Gilbert is in love with—the no-superstar type of thing. Paul Silas to me was the right kind of coach for LeBron James because he puts the hammer down, no offense to Austin Carr. I think that’s what the problem was. He wanted to make LeBron James pay his dues; there is a real thing to that no matter how great someone is at something. They still have to earn it—even if doesn’t take them long and it is not very hard for them—they still have to earn it. If the player doesn’t earn it, then they don’t respect the coach. Mike Brown was a great coach, I liked him, [but] a lot of people don’t because of his offensive skill set with coaching. The problem was that he was dead in the water the second he said, “I’m lucky LeBron James lets me coach him!” The minute you say that, you’re done, man! Unfortunately, the whole NBA has become a caterer-to-one-player-on-each-team sort of thing, which is terrible for the sport. If you don’t cater to them, the coach gets fired because an owner isn’t going to move the star out. Trust me, if LeBron James doesn’t like a coach, then he’s gone. I’m not saying that superstars run the team, but LeBron James pretty much does.

      Danny Ferry wanted to bring the best talent to Cleveland, but after premier players such as Ray Allen, and Michael Redd signed elsewhere, he had to settle for B-level free agents Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, and Damon Jones. Despite not getting the top-tier free agents, the Cavaliers were expected to compete fiercely for a playoff spot that 2005–06 season.

      Larry Hughes tasted success early in his basketball career when he was playing for Christian Brothers College High School, leading his teammates in a winning effort for the Missouri state championship in 1997. From high school, Hughes went to play only one season of college basketball at Saint Louis University. He performed well in his one and only college season, averaging 20.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.16 steals. He was St. Louis University’s best player and led the Billikens to the NCAA tournament that year, making it to the second round of 32 teams after a win over the University of Mass­achusetts before getting knocked out of the competition. It was still a strong showing for the smaller school. He was named Freshman of the Year and had some pre-draft hype as he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first-round pick of the 1998 NBA draft. The main reason the Cavaliers wanted to sign him in free agency was that he was known for being a versatile and athletic guard with strong defensive abilities—the perfect fit for Mike Brown’s system.

      As Hughes bounced around from team to team in the NBA because of his inconsistent offense, it was his defense that kept him in starting lineups. He was selected to the 2004–05 NBA All-Defensive First Team as a member of the Washington Wizards, where he led the league in steals per game with an average of 2.89. Many were surprised, however, when Hughes signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a free agent in the summer of 2005. Many feel that it was a clear sign of desperation as they searched for veteran help of any kind for LeBron, and after Ray Allen and Michael Redd both passed, Hughes was the next best remaining free agent out there. He did average 16.2 points and 37.6 minutes per game. Hughes was generally seen as a nice guy by many reporters in the local Cleveland media upon his arrival, and later on he received the inaugural Austin Carr Good Guy Award, which recognizes the Cavaliers player who is most cooperative with and understanding of the media, the community, and the public.

      Unlike Hughes, Damon Jones was an undrafted free agent after playing three years in college with the University of Houston Cougars. Before arriving in Cleveland, he had never played with the same team for more than one season. He was coming