BOSTON - It's not a surprise that both Doc Rivers and Stan Van Gundy weren't happy with the news that the Cleveland Cavalier fired coach Mike Brown on Monday.

Rivers and Van Gundy share the same profession as Brown. They respect him and certainly feel he's done a very good job and maybe that's why they can't quite understand why he's no longer the Cavs' coach.

"Obviously I'm not thrilled to see it. I don't know what you have to do to keep your job, I'll say it that way," said Rivers. "Our profession is tough and it's getting tougher."

Van Gundy pointed out that under Brown the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals in 2007, he won the coach of the year award in 2009 and this season the Cavs compiled the best record in the league.

"I believe Mike had the highest winning percentage of any active coach," said Van Gundy. "Not many of us coaches in the league have been more successful than Mike."

Van Gundy said he felt it was clear that Brown was fired only because of his team's playoff meltdown against the Celtics. "He got fired on the basis of three games," he said.

Celtic guard Ray Allen said that the situation in Cleveland right now is ``complicated" because of the pending free agent status of LeBron James but Brown's firing "goes to show the importance of post-season basketball."

Rivers has faced the firing ax once before in his career. He was let go by the Orlando Magic back in 2003 when his team got off to a 1-10 start.