Larry Brown Wants $53.5 Million From Knicks

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Brown seeking $53.5M
BY ALAN HAHN
Newsday Staff Writer
September 23, 2006

Larry Brown is seeking a $53.5-million payoff from the Knicks for firing him after only one season as the team's coach. Along with the $41 million that remained on the original five-year contract he signed last summer, Brown is asking for an additional 25 percent of the original value of the $50-million contract - an additional $12.5 million - as "liquidated damages" as a result of the firing.

That information was revealed Thursday in a 10-Q form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the Knicks' parent company, Cablevision. The Sports Business Journal originally reported the story Friday on the Internet, but Newsday also obtained the 10-Q form, which is a public document.

Commissioner David Stern is expected to serve as an arbitrator between the sides Friday in Manhattan. A decision will not be immediately rendered.

Brown, who considered the Knicks his "dream job," was fired June 22 after a controversial season and was replaced by Knicks president Isiah Thomas. Garden chairman James Dolan reportedly attempted to buy out Brown's contract before he fired him, but Brown declined the buyout. In hindsight, it was to ensure he got the entire amount of the deal.

Under a heading that reads "Contract Disputes," Cablevision says Brown was "terminated with cause pursuant to his employment agreement with the Knicks" and that "in the event that Mr. Brown prevailed, the Knicks could be liable for $41 million pursuant to the employment agreement ... In addition ... Mr. Brown has requested an additional 25 percent of the total compensation as 'liquidated damages,' as well as attorneys' fees."

The section concludes with Cablevision stating its view that "no portion of this amount is owed to Mr. Brown and therefore no provision for any severance cost has been recorded in the accompanying financial statements."

Brown's lawyer, Joe Glass, did not return a phone call for comment. The Knicks declined comment.

[resistanze]

:lmao I hope he wins.

[ducks]

why?

[resistanze]

It would make the whole mess at the Knicks organization complete.

[Zunni]

I would feel sorry for the Knicks...if they hadn't known EXACTLY what a drama bitch LB truly is. There is no sympathetic side in this dispute. Brown is a turd, and the Knicks are incompetent beyond belief. Since there is no salvaging the Knick situation for at least a good half decade, I think the best outcome would be to award LB full remaining salary AND the damages, thereby insuring that no NBA team hires him, and we never have to hear about him again except maybe one of those "Whatever happened to?" retrospectives.

[jacobdrj]

Come on guys, I think LB had no buisness coaching more than anyone... but he isn't a 'turd'. He is an old man, who is way past his prime, and possibly senile.

On the other hand, if it proves that all he wanted to do was extort nearly 80 million dollars out of 2 teams... than he is a turd...

But those teams knew EXACTLY what they were getting into before they signed him...

No sympathy.

Just hate the the Pistons didn't fire him right after the finals...

[Zunni]

He IS a turd. He was fucking negotiating with Cleveland DURING THE 2005 FINALS!!!! I already said I have no sympathy for the Knicks, but Brown is a SNAKE. He has totally fucked over the last two teams that have been foolish enough to hire him.

[trueD]

How many ways can the Knicks be violated?

I lobbied on my homie sportsboard for Brown to come coach Sacramento when Adelman wasn't re-signed. I think it's safe to say LB would NOT be getting one over like this on the Maloof's, no siree. :smokin

[THE SIXTH MAN]

This has nothing to do with coach Brown and everything to do with the Knicks. No one should even feel an ounce of sympathy for the Knicks. What once was a great franchise has know turned into the laughing stock of the NBA. And it all is starting from the top with owner James Dolan who has turned the keys over to Isiah Thomas. As far as the Knicks are concerned Isiah (with pretty much no concern for the cap) has managed to build a team that has if not one of the highest payrolls. He seams to have an eye for talent, but he cant put a solid team together for shit. Despite all the mediocrity James Dolan still puts his blind trust in Isiah, a man who once created a league that later folded. One of Dolan's biggest mistakes was not hiring one of the Colangelo's (I cant remember which one) to be gm for the Knicks. There's no saving this franchise at least for another decade or the firing of Thomas which ever comes first.

[trueD]

:lol Knicks have the highest payroll at $126,610,272 as of last January.

Yeah definitely blame Dolan, but LB wasn't hogtied and forced to succumb to the franchises trickle down effect of mediocrity. The man was making 11 million/year, you THINK he would have liked to hold on to his job and use his skills for more than trying to be the GM in a coaches suit. It boggled my mind to watch his self inflicted demise. You could be right about the senility setting in. But at what point does 23 wins from a coach who rode the bull to being the 4th winningest coach in league history get a pass for being greedy? Doesn't he at least have some pride about the way he is seen "going out"? Maybe he doesn't get it, that he's through. Done. Finished. Or, maybe he DOES see it and what he was thinking during the 2005 PO's

Whether or not it was his intent to rob the Knicks of $$$ for a job shabbily done, 23 wins with that lineup was absurd. Everything he has done to build a legacy for himself could very easily be whitewashed in the face of how he goes out. Greed kills.

[BeerIsGood!]

This has nothing to do with coach Brown and everything to do with the Knicks. No one should even feel an ounce of sympathy for the Knicks. What once was a great franchise has know turned into the laughing stock of the NBA. And it all is starting from the top with owner James Dolan who has turned the keys over to Isiah Thomas. As far as the Knicks are concerned Isiah (with pretty much no concern for the cap) has managed to build a team that has if not one of the highest payrolls. He seams to have an eye for talent, but he cant put a solid team together for shit. Despite all the mediocrity James Dolan still puts his blind trust in Isiah, a man who once created a league that later folded. One of Dolan's biggest mistakes was not hiring one of the Colangelo's (I cant remember which one) to be gm for the Knicks. There's no saving this franchise at least for another decade or the firing of Thomas which ever comes first.
Isiah is secretly still working for the Pistons. His mission is to destory the Knicks from the inside out. He knows his place and the hands that fed him...

[THE SIXTH MAN]

:lol Knicks have the highest payroll at $126,610,272 as of last January.

Yeah definitely blame Dolan, but LB wasn't hogtied and forced to succumb to the franchises trickle down effect of mediocrity. The man was making 11 million/year, you THINK he would have liked to hold on to his job and use his skills for more than trying to be the GM in a coaches suit. It boggled my mind to watch his self inflicted demise. You could be right about the senility setting in. But at what point does 23 wins from a coach who rode the bull to being the 4th winningest coach in league history get a pass for being greedy? Doesn't he at least have some pride about the way he is seen "going out"? Maybe he doesn't get it, that he's through. Done. Finished. Or, maybe he DOES see it and what he was thinking during the 2005 PO's

Whether or not it was his intent to rob the Knicks of $$$ for a job shabbily done, 23 wins with that lineup was absurd. Everything he has done to build a legacy for himself could very easily be whitewashed in the face of how he goes out. Greed kills.
:tu Agreed, greed is a pretty ugly thing to let get the best of you.

[Obstructed_View]

He IS a turd. He was fucking negotiating with Cleveland DURING THE 2005 FINALS!!!! I already said I have no sympathy for the Knicks, but Brown is a SNAKE. He has totally fucked over the last two teams that have been foolish enough to hire him.
Yeah, back to back trips to the finals. What a douchebag...

[TDMVPDPOY]

it was wrong of brown to bail out in the 05 finals, negotiating with other teams while he'd still have a duty with the pistons, and too me fuck the knicks and there management, they are biggest wankers in the league, they were praising brown and shit about the 10 win streak they had last season, and everything fell apart and they pointed the finger at him, and fuckn thomas was the sole reason the knicks went downhill after that, he brought in players that was no use to the team.....

[ShackO]

The whole org…… Including Brown is little more then a huge dysfunctional cluster fux…….

They should all.. Or @ least most of them, be on the jerry springer show or some other trailer trash show and let them work it out……..LOL Screaming, yelling and a few chairs and in the end they all are losers…………….

[MajorMike]

This is a contract. They promised him money, told him they didn't want him anymore, and owe him that money. If he would have left on his own, Isaiah certainly would have made him pay restitution for breaking a contract, so why shouldn't Larry do the same?

As far as jacob saying he is "He is an old man, who is way past his prime, and possibly senile," he took your team to the Finals for 2 years in a row just a year removed, including winning one. Yeah, that seems REAL past his prime to me. Don't think for a minute that Dumas deserves half the credit he got, because it was all Brown. Part of him taking the job was the fact that he (LB) got to do ALL the player management. He may very well be a turd and senile, but the Pistons aren't going back to the Finals with Flip. That was ALL Brown.

[Taco]

http://photos.tarheeltimes.com/photos/Funny%20UNC-related%20Photos/Larry%20Brown%20Rainbow%20Sweater.jpg = http://www.senatemajority.com/images/upload/Image/dramaqueen.jpg

[PM5K]

This is a contract. They promised him money, told him they didn't want him anymore, and owe him that money. If he would have left on his own, Isaiah certainly would have made him pay restitution for breaking a contract, so why shouldn't Larry do the same?

I agree, he deserves his money, but the Knicks are trying everything they can to get out of paying him....

[Drive Like Jehu]

Isiah, a man who once created a league that later folded.

Thomas did not create the CBA, he killed it. Isiah isn't skilled enough to create a basketball league like the CBA. Heck, he couldn't even manage the CBA the two seasons he owned the league.

The pre-Isiah CBA was as old as the NBA. Thomas purchased all of the franchises in 1999, and had mismanaged it into bankruptcy by 2001.

[ShackO]

I agree, he deserves his money, but the Knicks are trying everything they can to get out of paying him....

LOL............... The American way............ Perhaps they owe him. Perhaps not if they can get away without paying........... The courts will end up deciding this one......... He will prob get some money but not all of it......

Actually it is hard to feel sorry for either side in this one....... :spin

[DirkAB]

I hope he gets all of it, the Knicks are scumfucks for even trying to get out of paying the man. I've been wishing bad things onto this peice of shit organization ever since they hired that shady little fuck Isiah. That little scumbag talked shit about two of my favorite players to ever play, Jordan and Bird, then he has a history of turning everything he touches into a steaming pile of shit.

[ATX Spur]

I wouldn't even know what the hell to do with 53.5 million dollars. I can't imagine uttering the words "I am owed 53.5 million dollars". The money in the NBA is coming out the wrong end.

[Bob Lanier]

The money in the NBA is coming out the wrong end.
Meaning what?

[THE SIXTH MAN]

Thomas did not create the CBA, he killed it.


CBA
Thomas became the owner of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1998 to 2000. After his purchase of the Continental Basketball Association, the league was forced into bankruptcy and folded. Many CBA managers blamed Thomas' mismanagement and out-of-control spending.

Your right, I got this^^^off wikipedia. I did know that he had his hands on this league and that it all went to shit later.