Recommended Video:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Admitting they aren't entirely objective when talking about a good friend, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and some of his veteran players were supportive of Mike Brown, who was fired as Lakers coach Friday morning only five games into the 2012-13 season.

Popovich, who in 2000 gave Brown his first assistant coaching job in the NBA, called the dismissal premature and made it abundantly clear he believed Brown was not given a fair shot with a dramatically changed roster in Los Angeles.

“Mike's a very good coach and a good friend so you hate to see it,” he said. “This is a volatile business, as we all know, but what happened there after five games is like Chernobyl territory. That's way more than volatile. You'd love to see a guy get more of a chance than that, but I guess everybody has their reasons.”

Stephen Jackson, a player Brown helped guide through his first two seasons in silver and black, blamed the players for L.A.'s 1-4 start.

“He never had a chance,” Jackson said. “You've got to blame the players. They've got an All-Star team. They've got to play better, point blank. It's easy to blame it on the coach. That's the easy way out.

“In my opinion, when you have a team like that you don't need a coach. They should be able to go out there and get it done alone, but they've got to blame somebody.”

Point guard Tony Parker remembers Brown as his first Spurs' “head coach,” when he was a rookie at summer league in 2001. He called Brown of the NBA's best coaches, but knows things like that happen “when you're in that hot seat with a lot of expectations.”

Stomach turner: A stomach virus that has been making its way through the Spurs' locker room recently hit backup swing man Jackson hard Friday as he sat out against the Kings.

Popovich said Tim Duncan first began feeling under the weather Wednesday but hasn't missed any game time. Parker also felt ill at Friday morning's shootaround but recovered enough by tipoff to start.


Twitter: @Monroe_SA