http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1084690601135080.xml Brown's Scott take amusing Sunday, May 16, 2004 Peter Finney If Byron Scott becomes head coach of the Hornets, owner George Shinn will have Rod Thorn to thank and, some say, Jason Kidd, as well. Thorn is the general manager of the New Jersey Nets who fired Scott in January when the Nets were struggling, two games above .500. Kidd is the Nets' All-NBA point guard whose criticism of Scott, the story goes, greased the skids for the departure of a head coach who had taken New Jersey to the NBA Finals the previous two seasons. Leave it to Larry Brown, basketball's traveling salesman, to stir the pot, which he was happy to do as the Nets and Pistons were into their playoff series that finds the New Jersey leading 3-2 after Friday's triple-overtime victory in Detroit. What Brown did was criticize Thorn for firing Scott, who played for Brown when Brown was coaching the Indiana Pacers and, during his playing days, was encouraged by Brown to pursue a coaching career. "I admire what the kid has done," Brown said, referring to Lawrence Frank, the assistant who took over the Nets, "but all they were doing was saying, 'Look, anybody can coach.' It makes me sick that I'm in this profession." In standing up for Scott, a cunning Brown was doing double-duty. That is, he also was doing what he could to put more pressure on Frank, a head coach for the first time and the youngest basketball boss in the league. Thorn told Brown to mind his own business, suggesting, "Larry has no clue what goes on with our team." As for Frank, he was the soul of diplomacy. "Everyone's entitled to their opinion," he said. "As for Byron, he's a great guy and a good friend." To Scott's credit, he refused to target Kidd for his undoing, refused to comment on reports he was "stabbed in the back" by the leader of the team, recognizing what is a fact of life for an NBA coach. Now we have an interesting turn of events. Friday's marathon victory stole the home-court advantage from Brown's Pistons, handing Frank, at least for the moment, the biggest victory of his young career. It was an even bigger win for Thorn, who took plenty of heat for sacking Scott. It's important to keep in mind Scott and Brown were part of the ongoing coaching carousel in the Eastern Conference. No sooner had Brown left the 76ers at the end of last season -- because he could no longer co-exist with Allen Iverson -- he was off to the Pistons, who had fired Rick Carlisle after he had won two division championships. Why was Carlisle fired? It wasn't GM Joe Dumars who pulled the plug. It was owner William Davidson, who did not like the way the head coach treated front-office personnel within the organization. Once Carlisle became a free agent, he was scooped up by Pacers' GM Larry Bird, who sent Isiah Thomas packing (to an eventual job as GM of the Knicks) because Bird felt Thomas' Pacers made a habit of losing in the first round of the playoffs. It left an elder statesman like 63-year-old Brown, now working for his sixth NBA franchise, telling us, "I think we have to have some compassion for our profession." This comes from a survivor with a non-stop itch. More than 20 years ago, Brown was coaching the Nets when he made his most celebrated, and controversial, exit. Six games before the start of the playoffs, with his team owning a 47-29 record, he was fired when the owner learned Brown had accepted a job to coach the Kansas Jayhawks. In the playoffs, the Nets were swept by the Knicks. At Kansas, Brown would take the Jayhawks to an NCAA championship. After which he was back coaching in the NBA, wondering where his next job would take him. . . . . . . . Peter Finney can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3802. --

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