It was just two weeks ago that the Los Angeles Lakers' Phil Jackson was talked about as the first man to win 10 NBA championships as a head coach. He was going to pass the legendary Red Auerbach, who led the great Boston Celtics teams to nine rings.

Before the Lakers met the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, they were described as virtually unbeatable because they had four Hall of Famers - Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton.  The popular opinion was that Los Angeles would sweep the series and win their fourth title under Jackson, who would take his ring his tally to 12> he also won two as a player with the New York Knicks.

Well, it didn't quite work out that way. The Pistons won the best-of-seven series in five games causing the biggest upset in sports. It almost ranks with the stunning win James "Buster" Douglas had over Mike Tyson in their heavyweight title fight in 1990. And the man behind it was Larry Brown, who made history himself by becoming the first to coach championship teams in the NCAA and the NBA. The 63-year-old Brown, in his first season as head coach of Detroit, stands alone with a championship with the Pistons and with Kansas in the NCAA. 

Brown has long been acknowledged as one of the all-time great coaches and he could just top off a fabulous year by winning the gold medal in basketball at the Olympics later this year when he leads Team USA into Athens. If this happens, then it will be his second Olympic gold medal. He won a gold with the US team in the 1964 Games in Tokyo.

It has been a long journey for Brown, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began as a player with North Carolina in 1959-60 for four years and played with Akron, Ohio, for two seasons - 1963-64 and 1964-65  for a total of 65 games and averaging 11.6 points - before he played with New Orleans, Oakland, Washington, Virginia and Denver in the ABA. He later coached Carolina and Denver in the ABA prior to coaching in the NBA in 1976-77.
Brown is the epitome of a journeyman: In the NBA he has coached the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and the now the Pistons.

It has taken Brown 28 years and seven teams to win his first NBA championship, but what a win it was over the great Lakers, who felt they were destined to win their fourth championship under Jackson.

But the Pistons were mentally tougher. Rick Hamilton, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billips, who was named MVP of the series, and Rasheed Wallace just played better. They moved the all quickly, ran their opponents ragged, and made the Lakers look tired and old. Brown helped make them mentally tougher and he had them physically fresh for the tough NBA Finals. He rejuvenated his players after they lost the second game in Los Angeles and it was generally felt the Lakers had gathered momentum and would roll over the Pistons. Instead it was the other way round. It was one of his finest moments in a long and distinguished career.
Brown is already a Hall of fame coach, but the ring has added to his already wonderful resume.

And, by most accounts, he was one step ahead of Jackson in the NBA Finals. Jackson has been a great NBA coach. It was his first loss in the NBA Finals in 10 appearances.  Jackson has had all-time great players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, O'Neal and Bryant to win nine rings, and he also is a giant in the locker room where he can motivate, soothe tempers and pamper egos, not to mention his knowledge of the game.
On the other hand, Brown has won only one NBA championship, but he has been successful with every team he has coached. He even took the much maligned and under achieving Los Angeles Clippers into the playoffs in 1992-93.

Detroit won the championship in a stunning result, but Brown's performance was no shock.