Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Mike Brown


Mike Brown directs Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / October 30, 2012)

































































The Lakers have fired Mike Brown as coach after the team's 1-4 start, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Brown was barely a month into his second season with the team, which struggled badly amid high expectations.

[Updated at 10:45 a.m.: Assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will coach tonight's game against Golden State but the Lakers will conduct a national search for a long term replacement. Candidates could include Mike D'Antoni, Jerry Sloan, Nate McMillan and Phil Jackson.]

PHOTOS: Lakers fire Mike Brown

It was believed to be the earliest firing of a coach in the team's history. Del Harris was relieved of his duties 12 games into the 1999 season.

The Lakers were 41-25 in Brown's first season, losing to Oklahoma City in the second round of the playoffs.

The team has had trouble picking up Brown's Princeton-based offense and has also lagged defensively.

ALSO:

Preview: Lakers vs. Warriors tonight

Lakers are in last place after loss to the Jazz

Lakers fan allegedly attacks Jazz fans with pepper spray