Cavaliers hand reins to Indiana’s Brown

Mike Brown’s first head coaching job will be to make sure LeBron James isn’t watching the NBA playoffs next season.

Brown, a 13-year NBA assistant who won a league title with San Antonio, has been hired as the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Wednesday, the team ended weeks of silence to confirm Brown as their choice.

He’ll be introduced this morning in a news conference by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who finally has his coach and may be close to hiring a new general manager and president.

“Mike Brown was our first choice and only choice to be the new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Gilbert said. “Mike has learned from the very best in the business. He is focused on the defensive end of the court and I am highly confident he is exactly what the Cavaliers need to move our team to one of the very best in the NBA.”

The 35-year-old Brown spent the past two years as Rick Carlisle’s top assistant in Indiana, where he was credited with improving the Pacers’ defense and developing Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson. Brown’s main challenge in Cleveland will be getting James, the Cavs’ All-Star forward, into the NBA playoffs for the first time. He is the league’s second-youngest coach behind Nets coach Lawrence Frank, who is 34.

Labor talks break down

NBA labor talks stalled after a 2 1/2 -hour meeting in New York, less than a month before a lockout would begin.

“All I can say is that we had a meeting, and we don’t have anything else scheduled,” NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said.

Players’ association director Billy Hunter said he outlined a new proposal, then offered to extend the terms of the current seven-year agreement that expires June 30. The league turned both offers down.

“It’s definitely fair to say the talks have stalled,” Hunter said. “They are seeking more concessions off the current deal, and we contend we made major concessions in the last collective bargaining agreement.”