You figured Michael Jordan wouldn’t have shown Larry Brown (and all of his assistants) the door if he didn’t already know exactly who he wanted to succeed Brown as the Charlotte Bobcats’ head coach. Especially considering the team has another game in a few days.

Soon after it was announced that LB was out, reports surfaced that Paul Silas was among the front-runners to replace him. Just a few minutes ago, the Bobcats released this statement:

Charlotte Bobcats Chairman and CEO Michael Jordan today named Paul Silas interim head coach of the team, effective immediately.

In 10 seasons as an NBA head coach, Silas has a career record of 355-400 with the Clippers (1980-83), Hornets (1999-2003) and Cavaliers (2003-05). He has also spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach for the Hornets, Knicks, Nets and Suns.

During his four-plus seasons as head coach of the Hornets, Silas compiled a 208-155 (.573) record and led the team to the playoffs in each of his four full seasons. He remains the team’s all-time leader in coaching wins and ranks second in winning percentage. Silas was named interim head coach of the Hornets on March 7, 1999, and led the team to a 22-13 record over the final 35 games of the 1998-99 season after replacing Dave Cowens.

A 16-year NBA veteran, Silas averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 1,254 career games for the Hawks, Suns, Celtics, Nuggets and SuperSonics. He was a two-time All-Star (1972 and 1975) and won three NBA Championships (1974 and 1976 with Boston and 1979 with Seattle). Silas currently ranks 19th on the NBA’s career lists for rebounds (12,357) and games played (1,254).

Silas was given the “interim” tag, so it looks like he’ll have to prove himself this year if he’s going to stay long-term, before the ‘Cats get a chance to survey the whole field of available coaches next summer.

What do you think?