Michael “Mike” Brown is an American basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 head coach in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

. He was previously the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...

 from June 2, 2005 until May 24, 2010. After learning the game under Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich is an American basketball coach, and is currently the head coach of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. With the resignation of Jerry Sloan as head coach of the Utah Jazz on February 10, 2011, Popovich is the longest tenured coach in the NBA and also the...

, Brown is widely regarded as a defensive specialist. He turned the Cavaliers into one of the top defensive teams in the NBA and guided them into the 2007 NBA Finals

2007 NBA Finals

The 2007 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2006-07 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs and the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland...

. Brown was honored as NBA Coach of the Year for leading the Cavaliers to a team record and league best 66 wins in 2009, and 61 wins, again a league best, in 2010.