It is not known yet who will take over for him, but a source indicated to Shelburne that one of assistant coaches Bernie Bickerstaff or Chuck Person will take over on an interim basis.
Earlier Friday, sources had told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that the team was using its upcoming six-game homestand to evaluate Brown, but after numerous discussions over the past 48 hours, Lakers management came to a unanimous decision that the team wasn’t heading in the right direction.
The Lakers have had a healthy Steve Nash in the lineup for only 1½ of their five games so far thanks to a leg injury, while fellow newcomer Dwight Howard has acknowledged that he’s still recovering from the back surgery that brought a premature end to his 2011-12 campaign and knocked him out of the London Olympics. Kobe Bryant has also been playing through a foot ailment.
The Lakers are off to the worst start in the Western Conference despite carrying the league’s largest payroll at just over $100 million, which would trigger an estimated luxury-tax bill at season’s end of nearly $30 million.
The team has also been trying to institute a form of the Princeton offense, a system that relies on reads and ball sharing in order to take some offensive load off Bryant. The results have been mixed, at best.
