I think the article is absurdly overdone. We read that Larry was all "smiles and lies" at the press conference. Nothing wrong with smiles. And the only lie identified in the article was LB's innocuous statement that there was no place he would rather be than Charlotte. Jordan is "hopelessly naive" and Brown has "bombed" in his "last few ... performances." (Really? Two trips to the finals with the Pistons is a bombed performance?) Also wrong on the facts: Bill D. did not pay Larry 18 million when he was fired. It was 7 million.

Larry was extremely successful here. The knock against him was his flirtation with the Knicks and the Cavs jobs while he was employed by the Pistons. If he met with the Knicks and the Cavs front offices while employed, then it almost surely was with the Pistons' permission. The Heat lost a first round draft pick in 1995 after being accused of tampering when they hired Pat Riley from the Knicks. Those tampering rules are taken seriously. The Pistons did not have to give Brown permission to talk to anybody, and maybe they should have just said "No."

I believe LB wanted more money from the Pistons. If he asked them for permission to speak to other teams, then that would have been a clear signal that he was unhappy with his current contract, and perhaps was getting rebuffed by Bill D. in his request for a new contract.

He is by no means a saint, and if he really did seek permission to talk to the Cavs during the playoffs, that timing would be hard to excuse, though I don't know that it would necessitate his firing by Bill D. Before I would say that it required his dismissal, I would want to know more about the conversations with Joe D. or Bill D. about his contract that preceded it. There may well be fault on both sides. I think he deserved a raise after the championship season, and I don't think he should have had to fight and claw for that.

Great post pistonloyalist.


Larry came here with baggage that the whole world knew about. The only thing we didn't know was how successful he would be as a coach.

Yep we knew what we were getting, but I think Larry expected to not win a ship his first year, and neither did Dumars..... The early win just messed everything up. Larry had done his 3 year job in a year, so he felt it was time to move on....

I will never be convinced that he wanted to come back for a third year, and the way he went about trying to get out of detroit is what leaves a bad taste in my mouth.... if he could have just said, Listen I have done all I can do with this guys and I need a new challenge and left for his next team I would have said..... "I think your nuts.... but I respect you for the honesty."

That would have been out of character for LB...we knew what we were getting. A doddering dinosaur...the neurotic Prima Donna. I don't understand how folks act surprised and outraged that it turned out just like everyone should have known it would. You didn't have to be Nostradamus to see it coming.

We got exactly what we paid for...and more.

suprised at what we got? nope... ok suprised they won that fast.... yea

But just because we got what we thought we were going to get in a carpet bagger that left on his own terms... doesn't mean I don't have the right to be upset with him.... I will always be grateful for him for the 04 season and bitter at him for his antics of the 05 season.

Oh I can. All of Isiah's flaws as an exec and coach are exponentially greater in MJ.

Surprised to see the LB bashing thread. I think he might give it an honest go for awhile in Charlotte, it's too close to Chapel Hill for him to muck around much with his legacy...

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To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

It seems like the common perception is that LB got us a Championship while with Flip, it's up to the players.

Either LB is getting too much credit or Flip is not getting enough blame.

I'm going to play it safe and assume that I need to attack both.

With all the LB bashing it seems like he had nothing to do with the two great years. Folks complained all the time he was here. Bottom line for coaches is winning. He won and people complain because he had character flaws.

Flip doesn't get enough credit for being a great regular season coach and an all around nice guy. The fact that he still hasn't figured out his rotations is secondary.

Davidson might be afraid of what winning a Championship at this point could do to his health. He's probably thinking that a nice stress-free flame out in the ECF with a really nice coach would be just what the doctor ordered.

You may have a point. We shoud definitely avoid game sevens.