*Mike Brown is new Lakers coach

Team will make the announcement later today, ESPN is reporting.

Brown's union with the Lakers came together quickly. An ESPN analyst and the 2008-09 NBA coach of the year, he emerged as the leading candidate for the vacancy created when Phil Jackson retired after a strong face-to-face interview Saturday with Lakers brass including executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss, ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher reported.

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Brown's interview, combined with his track record of success in Cleveland, moved him ahead of the two other candidates the Lakers interviewed, Rick Adelman and Brian Shaw. Shaw, a longtime Lakers assistant under former coach Phil Jackson, had a public endorsement from superstar Kobe Bryant, but Shaw will likely be moving on to another franchise after the hiring of Brown. He is a candidate for the head coaching job in Golden State, though sources say the Warriors want to hire a coach with prior head coaching experience.

*First positive sign of the new hire: LAT's Bill Plaschke thinks it's a bad idea. Now if T.J. Simers slams it, the team will really be onto something.