Jordan’s Bobcats welcome Larry Brown

Larry Brown wanted to resurrect his vagabond, Hall of Fame coaching career. Michael Jordan needed to rescue his sinking reputation as an NBA executive.

The two former North Carolina players teamed up Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. when Jordan introduced Brown as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats – his ninth NBA coaching job. Brown agreed to a four-year contract, returning to the state where his nomadic coaching journey began.

While Brown took UCLA to the Final Four and won an NCAA title with Kansas, most of his experience has been in the NBA. Brown improved teams in Denver, San Antonio, Indiana and Philadelphia and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

The 67-year-old Brown replaces Sam Vincent, whom Jordan hired last year despite no NBA head coaching experience. Vincent was fired Saturday after a 32-50 season.

.

Scott voted NBA coach of year

Byron Scott has been voted NBA coach of the year after leading the New Orleans Hornets to their first playoff appearance in four years.

Scott coached the Hornets to a 56-26 record, a franchise high for wins. New Orleans won the Southwest Division crown and beat Dallas 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs.

This is the first time Scott has won the Red Auerbach Trophy in eight seasons as a coach. Scott won three titles as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers.

No discipline for Celts, Hawks

The Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks escaped discipline for a Game 4 skirmish in Atlanta which Kevin Garnett pushed off a referee while players on both benches stepped onto the court.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said there would be no fines or suspensions. Four technical fouls resulted in a game Atlanta won 97-92 to tie the best-of-7 series.