Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó Well-traveled Larry Brown has reached an agreement to return to the NBA as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press on Monday.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made, said Brown was expected to sign a contract today. The Bobcats have called an afternoon news conference for what they termed a imajor basketball announcement.î
The 67-year-old Hall of Famer will be taking over his ninth NBA team, and it will be his first coaching job since a messy exit from the New York Knicks in 2006. Brown will replace Sam Vincent, fired on Saturday after going 32-50 in his one season.
Brownís agent, Joe Glass, refused to confirm or deny that his client was headed to Charlotte.
iI have no information on Larry Brown,î Glass said early Tuesday.
Brown won the NBA championship with Detroit in 2004 and the NCAA title with Kansas in 1988. He resigned last week as executive vice president of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Glass indicated Brown wanted to return to coaching.
The move means Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan has turned to a fellow former North Carolina Tar Heel to try to get the fourth-year Bobcats into the playoffs for the first time. Jordan and Brown both played for former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.
Brown, inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, is one of five NBA coaches with at least 1,000 victories.
While heís had contentious splits with several teams, heís had success at nearly every job before his poor season with the Knicks in 2005-06.
Terms of Brownís deal in Charlotte were uncertain. But itís likely he will get a much larger salary than Vincent. Having never coached in the NBA before, Vincent made about $1.5 million this season. He has one year left on a two-year contract.