Less than a year after becoming the head coach of the New York Knicks, Larry Brown has lived up to his reputation for adding drama, but perhaps the issue is that his reputation for improving teams hasn?t followed as well. In the last few days the New York media has been covering the story of Brown?s possible severance with the Knicks with as much scrutiny and fervor as it covered his hiring just last summer. For some reason when Larry Brown is mentioned, interest heightens, to the point that once again the coach?s duration with the Knicks is the hot topic. The underlying question is whether or not it would be smart for the team to buyout the remaining four years and forty million dollars of Brown?s contract.

No matter if one believes the Knicks should or shouldn?t end the Larry Brown era, seemingly before it began, one has to agree that there are some important issues to be addressed. For one, Brown has lost the confidence of management and his players with his use of the media to berate everyone but himself. With the rumors that keep flying around about the Knicks wanting to get rid of Brown one has to wonder if the relationship has been damaged too much to continue. In addition, Brown is owed forty million dollars on his contract, which is no small obstacle to overcome. Lastly, Brown has a track record that speaks for itself and that must be considered purely in a basketball operations perspective.

When Brown signed on to become a part of the Knicks, he knew he was inheriting a flawed roster with players like Stephon Marbury, Quentin Richardson, and Jamal Crawford who seemed to be the antithesis of ?Larry Brown guys.? Now with the additions of Jalen Rose and Steve Francis, and their enormous contracts, there seems to be a dilemma in that the personnel doesn?t match the system. Brown has let his opinions about his players be known quite often and quite publicly, much to the dismay of Isiah Thomas. If Brown is going to stay it must be assumed that Isiah will try his best to get him the players he wants, but there is no way Brown will be happy with the limited foreseeable results. The smarter move may be to get rid of Brown and allow Isiah himself to take over as coach and develop the system he envisioned when he assembled this roster.

In most cities with most owners Larry Brown?s job security wouldn?t be an issue if for no other reason than paying him tens of millions of dollars to leave would be a terrible financial decision. However, this is New York, and owner Jim Dolan?s spending has become a running joke. He is still paying off Isiah?s predecessor Scott Layden, and two previous coaches Don Chaney and Lenny Wilkens, why not add Larry Brown to the bunch? In Dolan?s defense though by replacing Brown with Isiah he wouldn?t incur any further costs of a new coach because he is already paying Isiah as the President of Basketball Operations.  If Dolan really believes Brown needs to go, then shouldn?t Knick fans applaud him for spending whatever it takes to improve the situation? Brown?s contract doesn?t affect the salary cap so the money is Dolan?s to waste.

Knicks fan shouldn?t be concerned with Dolan?s finances and the amount of money he would lose getting rid of Brown, rather the impact is on the team?s future performance is the number one consideration. Brown may have botched his first year in New York to the extreme, but his track record is hard to argue with; he has improved every team he has joined. He had rocky starts like this year such as in Philadelphia with another angry star guard in Allen Iverson, but just a few years later he had that team in the NBA Finals. With a few roster moves that bring in some defensive oriented role-players, Brown could work his magic again. By getting rid of Brown just one year into his contract the Knicks could be removing their main hope for the future.

In New York, situations like this tend to be blown out of proportion forcing quick resolutions. Within a few weeks the Knicks should have security in their head coach, whether it is Brown or Isiah. One thing is for certain, this choice will determine the direction of the franchise for the near future. New York might see the beginning of the real Larry Brown era, or what could become the end of the Isiah Thomas era.