Coach Larry Brown Out:Bobcats New Coach Is Paul Silas

After a poor start to the season in which he took photos of his players and himself, as coach Larry Brown is out of the Charlotte Bobcats in another messy departure of well-traveled career.
Former Charlotte Hornets coach Paul Silas, who has been out of the league since 2005, will lead the team for the rest of the season on an interim basis.
Owner Michael Jordan announced the departure of Brown in a press release on Wednesday, a day after the Bobcats were outscored 31-12 in the fourth quarter on their fourth straight loss.
"I met with coach Brown two weeks ago on the team's performance and what we could do to improve," Jordan said. "We met this morning after practice. The team is clearly not up to any of our expectations and we agree that change was necessary."
The 70-year-old Brown, the coach of the Hall of Fame who was in the third season of his 13 professional and college head coaching job, was angry with the makeup and the effort of his team each week. The Bobcats (9-19) had lost three games of 31 or more points in 10 days prior to the crisis in the fourth quarter Tuesday against Oklahoma City.
Brown, whose contract runs through the end of the 2011-12 season, did not immediately return a message on his cell phone seeking comment. But his agent, Joe Glass, said Brown will be back on the bench before.
"Larry is going to train again," said Glass. "He has a lot of strength and energy."
Glass and Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins declined to discuss details of any purchase or if Brown will be paid until the end of his initial four-year contract.
Brown left with a record of 88-108 with the Bobcats. His 1,327 wins in the ABA and the NBA are nine shy of impersonating Don Nelson for most all time.
"This was a difficult decision for us, but needed to be done," said Jordan. "I want to thank Larry for everything he has done for our team. He played a key role in the development of this organization, including our coach we appearance in the playoffs for the first time last season."
Higgins said he had no contact with the 67-year-old Silas until the afternoon of Wednesday, and "both sides were right" to get a provisional label Silas.
"This allows us the opportunity to see how Paul does and see how our team can get to a certain level," said Higgins. "Paul has been out of it for a while."
Silas was a popular figure when he was coach of the Hornets through their move to New Orleans in 2002. Later he was the head coach of LeBron James in Cleveland and has a home in the Charlotte area.
Silas, who did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment, was busy working to build a team before practice Thursday. The Bobcats are off until Monday when they host Detroit.
He will take over a team that is in disarray, but still Sat only two and a half games out of playoff spot in the Eastern Conference before Wednesday's matches.
"It may be naive? Perhaps, but I firmly believe this team has the opportunity to get back on track," said Higgins.
Not with Brown, who has followed a familiar script in a career that includes fast turnaround and then divorces usually unpleasant.
The only coach to win two NBA titles and the NCAA had been away from coaching for two years after his dismissal after going 23-59 in his only season in New York in 2005-06, when Jordan was hired to replace Sam Vincent in 2008.
In his work record ninth NBA head coach, Brown immediately demanded changes and Jordan and Higgins responded with a series of operations to completely rebuild the team. Behind Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson, the Bobcats went 44-38 last season and secured the dock of the franchise in the playoffs first.