As TrueHoop reported on Saturday, word is that Larry Brown will be taking over.

This will be Brown's ninth NBA team. No one else has coached more than six.

Brown's returning to the site of his first coaching job at the professional level, which was for the ABA's Carolina Cougars, in 1972. (The Cougars had five different home arenas, one of which was Charlotte Coliseum.)

RemembertheABA.com remembers a team that, under Brown, improved dramatically, but didn't manage a title before falling into dissension:

The Cougars were 8-3 in the exhibition season, highlighted by a 5-1 record against NBA and including one-sided blowouts over the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics, the Atlanta Hawks, the Buffalo Braves and the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. The Cougars jumped out quickly in the regular season as well, winning their first four games and eight of their first 11, and occupying a first-place standing that remained constant through the entire 1972-73 season (an ABA first). Attendance increased 40% over the year before: 340,000 fans, a club record, witnessed Cougar action in North Carolina. This figure included 14,126 rabid Cougars fans who turned out on December 30, 1972 in Greensboro to see the Carolina play its arch-rival, the Kentucky Colonels. After three quarters of nip-and-tuck ball, the Cougars ousted Kentucky 104-91. The victory was Carolina's sixth straight, and it allowed the Cougars to keep first place going into 1973.

Carolina ended up winning 57 games in 1972-73, the most in the ABA that season. Billy Cunningham (overall league MVP), Larry Brown (ABA Coach of the Year), and even Carl Scheer (ABA Executive of the Year) garnered impressive individual honors. Three Cougars -- Cunningham, Caldwell and Calvin (the "Three C's") -- played in the 6th Annual ABA All-Star Game, played on February 6, 1973 in Salt Lake City.

With home court advantage throughout the 1973 ABA Playoffs, expectations for the Cougars were high. In the first round, the Cougars outmanned and overwhelmed New York, eliminating the Nets in four straight games. In the second round, the Cougars faced Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore and the Kentucky Colonels. This hard-fought series went the full seven games. After taking a 3-2 series lead, poor shooting prevented Carolina from closing out the series. The Colonels won Game 6 at Louisville in a 119-100 blowout. Game 7 was played at the Charlotte Coliseum, and an ABA Finals berth against the Indiana Pacers awaited the winner. The Colonels broke open a close and tense game in the second half, and coasted to a 107-96 victory before 10,231 disappointed Cougars fans.

Carolina fans thought that the team could make the ABA Finals the next season, 1973-74. But due to injuries and team discord, Larry Brown's second season with the team was a disappointment.