Under those circumstances, it’s understandable if Detroit would actually prefer that he leave. As the New York Giants discovered in 1991, when Bill Parcells quit in the spring because he had to undergo heart surgery, it’s hard to do much when you are forced to change coaches in the middle of the offseason. Better to plan for Brown to leave than to wait around for him to get a note from his doctor.

No matter how Pistons management looks at the situation, the team knew this was inevitable the day Brown was hired two years ago. His history always has spoken more loudly than his words. But the Pistons took him anyway, not because he said it would be his last coaching job — no job is ever his last — but because they wanted to win a championship.

In his first year as coach, he delivered, rolling over Shaq, Kobe and Phil Jackson in six games in the NBA Finals. Whether he can repeat that performance this season remains to be seen, but even if the talk of the next stop on the Larry Brown World Tour distracts the Pistons enough to help them lose to Miami or San Antonio, you can’t really ask for anything more.

Titles are hard to come by in the NBA, especially to teams that don’t have superstars leading them. If you get even one, you cast the man who did it in bronze and give him a free pass for life.

That’s the only way to look at it in Detroit. It’s also the only way for Cleveland to view its great good fortune should Brown decide to take over there as president.

Special feature A look back at Spurs' win over Cavs

With Brown helping to lead the organization, the Cavs should be able to build a team worthy of LeBron James’ staying home and resisting the blandishments of New York and other glitzier locales. And that’s all Cleveland should expect of him, because he won’t stay there, either.

He’ll say the Cavs are his last job, but as long as he draws breath, there’s always a newer challenge down the road. He can’t help himself. Some people are content climbing the same mountain year after year. Brown climbs a mountain once and immediately needs another one to explore.

It’s who he is.