Memphis Grizzlies: 5 Of The Top Head Coach Candidates Available

Mike Brown

Mike Brown is a guy with head coaching experience who had a lot of success during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was their head coach in his first stint from 2005-10 and they advanced to the second round every season, including an NBA Finals trip in 2007.  He finished with a 272-138 record during these five years.

After a year off he joined the Los Angeles Lakers where he was the coach for just over a season. In his first season, they finished 41-25 and were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. The following year they had high expectations after the acquisition of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash which led to him being fired after a 1-4 start to that season.

He got a lot of blame for their struggles, but people quickly realized that the team wasn’t as good as they were anticipated to be. After that, he was brought back to Cleveland for a season after Dan Gilbert said it was a mistake to fire him the first time, but after a 33-49 season, he was fired once again.

Brown would join the Golden State Warriors coaching staff in 2016 after Luke Walton left to go become the head coach of the Lakers. He has continued to grow in this role and has been a key part of their staff during this championship run.

The Warriors are an offensive juggernaut, but they also have been very good defensively and Brown is a big part of that. He has had plenty of success as a head coach and while having Lebron James helps, he certainly played a big part in that as well. These last few years with Golden State has set him up for another head coaching stint, and that could come, with the Grizzlies.