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 on Tuesday. The Bobcats called an afternoon news conference for what they termed a "major basketball announcement."
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.
Reached early Tuesday, Vincent said he wasn't surprised that part-owner Michael Jordan decided to bring in a veteran coach.
"Michael never said that he was hiring Coach Brown. He just said they were going to make some decisions that were in the best interest of the organization," Vincent said. "So I kind of assumed of going in the direction of hiring a veteran coach and someone who was very popular in the community."
Brown's agent, Joe Glass, refused to confirm or deny that his client was headed to Charlotte. "I have no information on Larry Brown," 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 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.
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