Stein: Mike Brown is on the hot seat

Well, we finally have reason to believe that Mike Brown may actually get fired this season, and it may happen as soon as this month. ESPN's Marc Stein just reported that, if the Lakers don't show marked improvement during their upcoming homestand, management will begin searching for a new head coach.

From his report:

Sources told ESPN.com that the Lakers, while having publicly expressed support for Brown in the wake of a 1-4 start, have privately grown sufficiently concerned about the state of the team to the point that management is prepared to look seriously at a coaching change at this early juncture if L.A. can't take advantage of what looks to be multiple winnable games in the upcoming stretch.

Many have pointed out how patient the Buss family tends to be when it comes to make franchise changing decisions, but this nugget from Stein seems to suggest that the bosses aren't going to waste any time with this particular group.

Yet sources maintain that patience in the organization is starting to erode as the wait continues for signs of improvement in the Lakers' play.

This is sure to appease several fans that have been calling for Brown's head after witnessing an abysmal start to the season from this star studded team. Virtually everything about the team that would fall under the umbrella of a head coach's responsibilities - offense, defense, effort, rotations - has been far from acceptable through five games and it appears like Laker management won't be so patient with Brown if he can't get this team to play better over their next six games.

The six-game homestand starts tonight with a game against the Golden State Warriors and continues over the next couple of weeks with contests against Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix, Houston and Brooklyn.

We'll have more on this situation as it develops.