While making a championship run, it is usually a bad idea to have your head coach constantly answering questions about whether or not he will be with another team at season's end.

Dumars admitted on Friday that he personally gave Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert permission to talk to Pistons coach Larry Brown.

"In terms of permission, here's what happened," Dumars said. "(Cavaliers owner) Dan Gilbert and I have known each other for a long time. He said to me, 'Listen, I'd just like to let Larry Brown know that if health-wise he can't come back and coach, I'd like to let him know that this opportunity would be out there.'

"I said, 'Danny, that's fine. You can let him know that.' He let him know. And that was it. That's all it was supposed to be. Just letting him know, in case you're not healthy, it's out there. Then it took on a life of its own and turned into something else and just got real silly."