Greg Bailey WCNC Sports Director

Larry Brown has mastered many things, but coaching takes a back seat to the way he blames the tough stuff on his wife. Didn't take the Bobcats job last year, blame Shelly. Contract talks are tough, blame Shelly. And she smiles and loves every minute of it. Most guys get smacked for that stuff -- including me, until I learned to never do that again. But Larry and his wife revel in it. I need to learn this trick.

Longtime NBA front office master/GM/builder of franchises Carl Scheer showed up to see Larry Brown take over the Bobcats today. Scheer calls Brown the "best coach in the NBA." First off, Scheer would know. Second, the fact that he still feels that way tells you everything that you need to know about the Bobcats hire.

Carl helped start the ABA's Carolina Cougars, and he has a wealth of experience at various stops in the ABA/NBA. He was the general manager and Larry Brown was his coach in Denver. Months of lobbying from Brown led to Scheer trading for George McInnis. This is the player and the trade that Brown wanted for the team he was coaching. That bliss lasted all of one day in training camp. After the first practice, Brown called Scheer and told him he couldn't coach McInnis. Beautiful.

67-year-old Larry Brown wanted to return to coaching so badly that he turned down a college job in the last week. I asked Brown if that was the Stanford job, but he didn't bite. That still tells you everything that you need to know about Larry Brown and his life. Coaching means that much to him. After 36 years, 9 different pro jobs (Charlotte is the 10th) and 2 stops in college, the lifer wants one more shot.

That has everything to do with the failed one year stop with the Knicks. Brown suffered through a 23 win, 59 loss season and walked away. He got a multi-million dollar buyout for his troubles and could have taken on an elder statesman role with any number of franchises. He had that job in Philadelphia, but yearned for a return to the gym. I knew that when I saw him at the Final Four in San Antonio. He didn't have to sit courtside and make himself available for interviews as Kansas practice wore down, but there he was, openly saying he would consider a return to the bench. That decision has everything to do with practice.

Practice is what Larry Brown really lives for. This is where he can teach and mold, tear down and build up. Brown admits today he suffers through games. Practice is where the game is pure. Just Larry and his players working on ways to master the beautiful game. Brown really does see beauty in the concept of teamwork and the symmetry that comes with a game of cuts and screens, passes and shots. It's been that way since he started with the Carolina Cougars back in the ABA in 1972. Working with players isn't something that every head coach really does. Brown will do it here in Charlotte, and he will love every minute of it.

I do wonder if that will be enough. Will Brown tire of the schedule? Will he grow restless once the NBA grind of back to back games and endless road trips takes away from his precious practice time? Does he really have enough left in the tank, or does he only think he does? Will he really let Michael Jordan call all of the personnel shots like he promised today? What happens when he tires of one or all of the Bobcats young players? I don't know the answer, but I can't wait to cover Larry Brown's Bobcats, and I've never said that about this franchise before. That's what today is all about.

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New day for the Bobcats

The Bobcats have called a 1 p.m. press conference Tuesday for a "major basketball announcement." Every sign points to Larry Brown taking over as the Bobcats coach, but no one has confirmed that as of midnight on Monday.

The 67-year-old has had a remarkable career in the ABA, NBA and college coaching. We saw him at the Final Four and he told everyone he wanted to coach again. Maybe this will be his last stop and another great turnaround job. Few have done that better than Brown, right up until his last stop with the Knicks. I won't hold that one against him. That franchise might be beyond help.

This will be an interesting day no matter who is hired. We expect that Michael Jordan will answer questions, and that's always interesting. This is the part of the story that few understood this weekend when Sam Vincent was fired. The reason Jordan didn't answer questions then is that the wheels were already turning to bring the next coach on board.

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