Three words I don't often say, but I'm happy for Larry Brown's Pistons, now NBA champions. Let's face it, the man is a coaching genius. This was his first year in Detroit and he couldn't have done any better.
My first encounter with Coach Brown was in the spring of 1984. I was a freshman at K.U. and Larry was in his first year as basketball coach of the Jayhawks. As a producer for the public affairs call-in show on KJHK, I was learning the pitfalls of scheduling in studio guests. Show hosts Stu Wright and Craig Westhoff gave me a short list of local celebrities to book on the show: Gene Budig, Larry Brown, and William H. Burroughs. I went 0 for 3 by term's end. But one night when I was pretending to study at my Oliver Hall dorm room desk, the phone rang. It was Larry Brown returning my call.
"Hello, Fowler? Hi, this is Larry Brown. I'm sorry I can't do the talk show..."
He was the only one of the big three to give this freshman a personal return call.
Genius!
And if you don't believe me, stop and consider how Burroughs might have fared at the helm. No way he goes four games to one against Shaq and Kobe in the finals. No way. And Budig, he's a baseball fan. So forget it. Larry Brown is the man.
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