“James had led the movement for his dismissal for more than two years” – Adrian Wojnarowski details how LeBron James got Mike Brown fired originally appeared on Basketball Network.
LeBron James’ shocking Cleveland Cavaliers exit remains one of the most intriguing free agency stories in NBA history. While the move only actualized in the summer of 2010, renowned former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that the Cavs tried to persuade LBJ to stay by granting his demands, including firing coach Mike Brown.
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According to Woj, James and his associates already wanted Brown dismissed after the Cavs lost to the Orlando Magic in 2009. However, it didn’t happen and Brown went on to coach the Cavs for another season.
Having caught wind that James would leave the team in 2010, the Cavs brass greenlighted the firing of coach Brown in the hope of convincing LeBron to re-sign. At the time, Brown was one of the best coaches in the league but the Cavs front office figured James was more important to the franchise.
Sure enough, Brown was laid off in 2010. Wojnarowski noted that Brown knew he was performing well as a coach and more importantly, he knew it was LeBron who wanted him terminated.
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“Within an hour of the Cavaliers’ season ending in Boston, James’ inner circle, including power broker William Wesley, agent Leon Rose and business manager Maverick Carter, stood outside the visiting locker room grumbling about coach Mike Brown,” Wojnarowski wrote in 2010.
“James had wanted Brown gone a year earlier after the Cavs lost in the Eastern Conference finals to the Orlando Magic – despite Brown guiding Cleveland to 66 victories while winning the league’s Coach of the Year award. Ferry debated Gilbert to keep Brown. He won out, but Ferry knew it would be tough to make that case again in 2010. Every decision the Cavaliers made had to be run past James. He didn’t always get to decide, but he had to be consulted.”
“This time, Gilbert believed he had to fire Brown to have a chance of re-signing James.”
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The timing of Brown’s firing was very unfortunate, considering he was at the pinnacle of success as a coach. However, Wojnarowski revealed that it also set Coach Brown free from fawning over LeBron, which he had been doing reluctantly all along.
“When he was fired, Brown purposely left his star’s name out of a public statement of thanks. He knew James had led the movement for his dismissal for more than two years and Brown no longer needed to pretend that he liked, or respected James.”
Coach Brown still admires LeBron
Despite succumbing to what James wanted to happen, the Cavs still failed to make their franchise player stay. It was a double whammy for Cleveland as not only did they lose James but they also lost one of the best coaches they have ever had.
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Though what had transpired that year was nothing short of unfortunate, Coach Brown doesn’t hold any grudge against LeBron. Contrary to what Woj reported following his firing, Brown only had nice things to say about James.
“Even though we had a lot of success because we had LeBron James, he was still learning and growing, too,” Brown once reflected. “But he made my job a lot easier.”
The legend of LeGM
In 2013, Brown reunited with the Cavs. However, he only coached the team for one season and was fired once again following an underwhelming performance. With Brown at the helm, the Cavs finished with a 33-49 record.
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That summer, James made an epic return to Cleveland as well, and at that point, rumors were quickly spreading that LeBron was the one pulling the strings within the Cavs organization. Hence, the infamous nickname, “LeGM.”
Regardless of the rumors, James’ second stint with the Cavs was more successful. Though some have criticized him for assembling super teams, LBJ and the Cavs still got the job done.
In 2016, the Cavs made history under LeBron’s leadership. He led the team to its first-ever NBA championship and even upset the historic 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared.