NEW YORK — A failure to approach, much less reach expectations, however impractical they may be, is bound to get authority figures fired sooner than later, which is precisely why Larry Brown again is on relocation and Kurt Rambis has a job for life.

Any NBA owner other than Donald Sterling and James Dolan would have fired himself for incapacitating his team the way Michael Jordan frustrated the Bobcats' progress this past summer. Instead, Next Town took the well-researched fall . . . getting snuffed out on Tobacco Road, apparently with the full support of the surgeon general.

So, less than a half season after Brown escorted the franchise to its first after-party and first winning record (44-38) since its 2004 inception, he was held accountable for the team's 9-19 stain in the standings, inability to score (60s, 70s, 80s and low 90s in losing six of his last seven games in charge), draw fewer witnesses than three-fourths of the league and make sure Gerald Wallace stays healthy.