When Mike Brown was with the Cavaliers, he had a close working relationship with front office personnel Danny Ferry, Chris Grant and Lance Blanks.

With the Lakers, Brown has more distance from Jerry Buss, Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak.

"The relationship there was really, really tight," Brown said Wednesday. "We never did anything without getting the approval of the other guy. Here, it's a little different. Mitch is the GM, and Jimmy is one of the owners with his dad and whoever else, so they make the personnel decisions. At times they may get my opinion; at times they may not."

Asked about Jim Buss, Brown said: "My relationship with him is fine. ... We don't really have interaction like that when it comes to making trades and all that other stuff. That's usually he and Mitch who are talking, and really I just coach the team. I think he's a good guy. I enjoy working for him. "