It's amazing what a couple of years will bring, isn't it?

Two years ago, Larry Brown was hoisting up his first NBA Championship, and the first NBA title for Detroit since 1990.  Now his coaching stock has taken a huge dip, as the New York Knicks fired him after one season.

While the Detroit debacle last year was the fault of Brown's, the New York one was entirely different.  Brown had called New York his "dream job", and went to the media several times to emphasize that he wanted to stay there despite the writing on the wall.  However, his problems with point guard Stephon Marbury as well as with general manager Isiah Thomas proved to be his downfall.

Here's my problem with the whole situation:  Brown never agreed to a buyout, and insisted that if the Knicks wanted to get rid of him, they'd have to do so while paying him the length of his contract.  The Knicks fired him anyway, but now want an arbitrator to force Brown into a settlement.

If this happens, Brown should cart the Knicks and the NBA into federal court.  I remember when so many sports fans and media were up in arms about Terell Owens wanting to renegotiate his contract after only one year with the Eagles.  Brown's situation as well as countless others show that sports franchises do this sort of thing all the time.  The Knicks want to reneg on a 5-year, $50 million dollar contract, where they only fulfilled one year of it and now don't want to pay the other $40 million despite wanting Brown out.  They should have to pay every single dime.

The Knicks should be used to wasting money by now.  They have the NBA's highest payroll at $125 million dollars, and are still paying three other coaches after firing them; Lenny Wilkens, Herb Williams, and Don Chaney.  Isiah Thomas, former Pistons great and current GM, has been there not only to oversee those firings, but also to place this ragtag roster of untalented players together, culminating into 23 wins. 

And what does Knicks owner (Cablevision executive) James Dolan do?  Makes Thomas the coach as well.  Gotta love that move.

The fans weren't yelling last year to fire Brown; they were calling for Thomas's head.  Thomas, probably inspired by Heat coach Pat Reily and Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, thinks he can do a better job than a Hall of Fame coach.  You'll hear the catcalls for Thomas to be booted out of the Knicks franchise before December.  They got rid of the wrong guy.

Thursday afternoon I was listening to 850 The Buzz and overheard Brown's biographer and the host (It wasn't Adam Gold, as he's on vacation.  It was the guy from the ACC Sports Journal) talking about Brown being a perfect fit for the Charlotte Bobcats.  I disagree.  Let Brown sit at home and count his money.  With Emeka Okafor and others returning from an injury-plagued season, Charlotte should be better than they were last year, although not quite ready to make a playoff run just yet.    Charlotte can simply let their young players get better over time and become a mainstay in the playoff race in a couple of years.