NEW YORK - The Larry Brown era officially ended two days before the New York Knicks' season opener. Brown and the Knicks reached a settlement on the $40 million remaining in the fired coach's contract Monday night, a week before NBA commissioner David Stern was expected to rule. Terms were not disclosed.

"At my request, the New York Knicks and Larry Brown have agreed to a compromise resolution of the dispute between them," Stern said in a statement. "Neither the club nor Larry have any future obligation to each other and have assured me, in response to my direction and request, that there will be no further public discussion of the matter."

Isiah Thomas replaced Brown as coach of the Knicks, who open their season Wednesday at Memphis.

Brown was fired in June after going 23-59 — one of the worst seasons for both the Hall of Fame coach and the franchise — in the first year of a five-year contract worth about $50 million.

Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan withheld payment of the rest of the deal, saying the Knicks had cause because the coach violated terms of his contract. A clause in Brown's contract made Stern the final arbiter in case of any disputes.

Brown and the Knicks testified for more than 15 hours before Stern in early October, and the commissioner said last week he expected to make a ruling during the first full week of November. But he persuaded the sides to settle earlier.

"The press release speaks for itself," said Joe Glass, Brown's agent. "Whatever they said is fine."

Knicks spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said the team had no comment.