CLEVELAND — The surroundings have all been familiar for Mike Brown since Golden State landed at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Monday.
Brown is acquainted with the airport, roadways, downtown, and arena. In many ways, Cleveland is still home for the 47-year-old Brown.
It’s where he coached LeBron James for five wonderful but underachieving seasons. It’s where he returned to coach a young Kyrie Irving for one underwhelming season. It’s where his sons were raised. And it’s where he remained living despite being fired twice by the Cavaliers. (They’re still paying him until 2020.)
“I don’t have any control over what the storyline’s going to be,” said Brown, coach Steve Kerr’s top assistant with the Golden State Warriors.
“It’s a little ironic that things happen in life this way. I was just talking to my boys about it. It’s like The Lion King. It’s just the circle of life. Everything just kind of keeps getting back or revolving back to where it once was.”
Brown served as Golden State’s acting head coach during Kerr’s absence in the playoffs, posting a 12-0 record.
A decade ago, Brown — then just a 37-year-old second-year head coach — was in the NBA Finals with a 22-year-old James, who was in the beginning stages of becoming the league’s most dominant force.
The Cavs were swept that year by the San Antonio Spurs, but it raised the bar for expectations in Cleveland.
Many believed a coronation was on tap for the coming years, parades becoming an annual summer tradition.
Brown and James never returned to the finals together. The Cavs had the best record in 2008-09 and 2009-10 — and were unceremoniously defeated in the Eastern Conference playoffs both seasons.
Brown was fired in the summer of 2010 and, days later, James announced that he was taking his talents to South Beach. It was widely thought that Brown was fired to gain the support of James, who would win two championships in Miami.
“[James has] been scrutinized from day one, top to bottom, inside-out,” Brown said.
Brown was hired by the Los Angeles Lakers, where he became the first NBA coach to be the head coach for James and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won 41 games and lost in the conference semifinals. Brown was fired the following season after the Lakes started 1-4.
When Cleveland hired Brown before the 2013-14 season, James said, “I’m happy for him. Very happy for him. I think he’s a really good coach, very defensive-minded coach. It’ll be good for those young guys that they have.”
One of those young guys was Irving, who was entering his third season and needed guidance on becoming a premier NBA player. Irving elevated his game under Brown, winning MVP honors in the all-star game, but they often butted heads, with Brown recommending the Cavs trade the budding superstar.
“It’s just learning experience,” Irving said. “I was a 21- year-old kid just trying to lead a franchise, and he was a new head coach that I had to get introduced to a new offense, new players, new system. So it was a learning experience, to say the least. I regret being part of that because [Brown] was just trying to teach me a lot of things that I didn’t necessarily understand as a 21-year-old in the NBA. He definitely had some great things, and the knowledge of the game that’s up there with some great coaches.”
Brown was fired after the 2013-14 season. Two months later, James stunned the basketball universe by returning to Cleveland. Fast-forward three years, and once again Brown and James are linked together.
In this city last summer, Brown met with Kerr to discuss being an assistant on the Warriors’ staff. Now Brown can win a championship in Cleveland against James, the city and superhero that was supposed to morph into basketball paradise.
RATINGS SUCCESS: It’s the first time two teams have met in three consecutive NBA Finals, but it certainly doesn’t mean the country is tired of watching the Cavs and Warriors.
These NBA Finals has been the most-watched championship series since the 1998 Finals, the sixth of six titles for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Golden State’s victories in Games 1 and 2 averaged 19.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen, a 5 percent increase from last season. The Warriors won the first two games of both series by wide margins.
Game 2’s 20.1 million viewers were the most for a Game 2 since 1998.
The top-10 rated markets are Cleveland, San Francisco-Oakland, Columbus, Miami, Memphis, Atlanta, Sacramento, Richmond, San Antonio, and Birmingham.
LAYUPS: Several prominent Ohio natives were in attendance at Game 3 — Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, No. 3 golfer in the world Jason Day, Grammy-winning country music group Rascal Flatts, who sang the national anthem. … The average price for Game 3 tickets was $1,078. The average at Oracle Arena for Games 1 and 2 was $1,819 and $2,103, respectively. ... According to ESPN business reporter Darren Rovell, the Warriors will lose about $12 million in revenue if they sweep the Cavs because of no more home games at Oracle Arena.
Contact Kyle Rowland at: krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @KyleRowland.
First Published June 8, 2017, 4:23 a.m.
