The Los Angeles Lakers have fired coach Mike Brown after losing four out of five games to start off the season.

According to ESPN, assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will take over as interim coach for Friday night's home game against the Warriors.

General Manager Mitch Kupchak said this was a difficult and painful decision to make.

"Mike was very hard-working and dedicated, but we felt it was in the best interest of the team to make a change at this time," Kupchak said in a statement on the team's website.

"We appreciate Mike's efforts and contribution and wish and his family the best of luck."

According to Yahoo! Sports, Brown's agent, Waren LeGarie confirmed the firing. He said Brown had informed him of his dismissal.

Lakers legend Magic Johnson reacted to the dismissal of Brown on Twitter.

"Feel bad for Coach Mike Brown, who's a great guy, but don't think he was the right guy for the job in the first place," wrote Johnson.

"I'd love to see Phil Jackson or Brian Shaw. Wish Pat Riley was available."

The team has not yet decided whether to hire a more established head coach or to go on with Bickerstaff. Potential replacements include Mike D'Antoni, Jerry Sloan, Brian Shaw and Nate McMillan, according to the New York Times.

A source told ESPN that this decision was more about Brown's performance and not about an eager pursue to get another coach. Sources also told ESPN.com's Marc Stein earlier Friday, that the Lakers were going to use the team's upcoming sixth-game to evaluate Brown, but after numerous decisions over the past 48 hours, the team's management came to a decision that they weren't heading in the right direction and it was best to fire him now.

Brown was just in the second year of a four-year contract worth, $18 million. The final year of that contract, however, was only partially guaranteed.