.jpg) Brown in 2015 | |
| San Antonio Spurs | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1961-02-16)February 16, 1961 (age 65) South Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | South Portland (South Portland, Maine) |
| College | Boston University (1979–1983) |
| Coaching career | 1988–present |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1988 | Altos Auckland |
| 1988–1991 | Melbourne Tigers (assistant) |
| 1992 | Bulleen Boomers |
| 1993–1998 | North Melbourne Giants |
| 2000–2002 | Sydney Kings |
| 2003–2013 | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) |
| 2013–2020 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 2022–present | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
| As head coach: As assistant coach:
| |
Brett William Brown (born February 16, 1961) is an American professionalbasketball coach who is an assistant coach for theSan Antonio Spurs of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). Brown is a formercollege basketball player who previously served as head coach for thePhiladelphia 76ers from 2013 to 2020. Before that, Brown was an assistant onGregg Popovich's staff on the Spurs. He also has extensive experience coaching in Australia, having been the head coach of theNorth Melbourne Giants andSydney Kings of theNational Basketball League (NBL).
Born and raised inMaine, Brown first played organized basketball in Rockland, was a star guard in junior high school there, and then his father was hired as the head coach.[1] Brown transferred to South Portland where he became a star basketball player atSouth Portland High School, from which he graduated in 1979.[2] Brown was a two-year first-team all-state guard in 1978 and 1979, and led his team to a 27–0 record and a State Class A Title in his senior year.[2] Both Brown and his father, Bob Brown, who was South Portland's head coach during Brown's playing career, are inductees to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.[3]
Brown played four seasons atBoston University underRick Pitino. He was named the Lou Cohen MVP in his sophomore year and served as the team captain in both his junior and senior seasons. During his senior year in 1983, theBoston Terriers made their first appearance in theNCAA Tournament since 1959.[2] By the time he graduated, Brown had compiled the fourth-most assists in school history.[3] After graduation, he served as a graduate assistant under coachJohn Kuester.[4] Brown also took a sales job withAT&T, saving enough money to take a backpacking trip toOceania in 1987.[2]
In 1988, after a coaching stint inNew Zealand withAltos Auckland,[5] Brown made a cold call toMelbourne Tigers head coachLindsay Gaze, ultimately leading to a job offer. He spent four seasons as an assistant to Gaze in the Australian NBL.[2]
In 1992, Brown secured his first senior head coaching position in Australia with theBulleen Boomers of theSouth East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). There he coachedDrederick Irving.[6]
Brown became head coach of theNorth Melbourne Giants in 1993 and was namedNBL Coach of the Year in 1994, when he led the Giants to achampionship victory over theAdelaide 36ers. He served as head coach of the Giants until 1998, before taking a job with theSan Antonio Spurs.[3] Following his stint with the Spurs, Brown coached theSydney Kings from 2000 to 2002.[3][7] Overall, he was a head coach for 278 NBL games, winning 54 percent of the time.[8]
After attending a basketball camp run by Brown andAndrew Gaze,San Antonio Spurs general managerR. C. Buford hired Brown as an unpaid member of the Spurs' basketball operations department for the1998–99 lockout-shortened season.[2] In 2002, after a stint with theSydney Kings, he again took a position with the Spurs, this time as the team's director of player development.[3] Buford credited him with focusing attention on the team's lesser-known players, creating a consistently strongbench; this philosophy would continue to benefit the Spurs even after Brown left his role as player development director.[9] He was promoted to assistant coach in September 2007, working under coachGregg Popovich.[10] Popovich calls Brown "one of his best friends," and Brown would later incorporate many of Popovich's concepts into his own offensive system.[11] He played a major role in signing Australian guardPatty Mills, who played under him for the Australian national team.[12] Brown was a member of the Spurs organization for four of theirchampionship-winning seasons.[3]
During the 2013 NBA off-season, Brown was offered a chance to succeedMike Budenholzer as the top assistant onGregg Popovich's staff, but in August 2013, he chose instead to become head coach of thePhiladelphia 76ers.[13] He inherited a team in "total rebuilding mode" led by new general managerSam Hinkie,[14] and the Sixers were only able to woo Brown away from the Spurs after offering a 4-year guaranteed contract.[15] His appointment made him the24th head coach in thehistory of the franchise,[14] and the second person to be a head coach in both the NBL and the NBA, followingMike Dunlap. The Sixers were the youngest team in the league during Brown's first year, and one of the youngest of all time.[16] During the second half of the2013–14 season, the Sixers would lose 26 games in a row, tying the record forlongest NBA losing streak.[17] Sixers point guardMichael Carter-Williams won theNBA Rookie of the Year Award in2014, and credited Brown for helping him win the award and grow as a player.[18]
On December 11, 2015, the 76ers signed Brown to a contract extension.[19] On May 31, 2018, the 76ers signed Brown to another contract extension, coming off their first playoff appearance since 2012. On June 7, 2018, Brown was named interim general manager afterBryan Colangelo resigned after a social media scandal, where he and his wife criticized team members.[20][21][22] Before the 76ers found his replacement in former playerElton Brand on September 20, 2018, Brown signed off on multiple trades that the 76ers did in the months of June & July, including an infamous trade during the2018 NBA draft where Philadelphia native and 2x NCAA championMikal Bridges fromVillanova University was traded to thePhoenix Suns forZhaire Smith and a 2021 first round pick from theMiami Heat after being selected by the 76ers. He also signed off on the signings of players likeShake Milton,Norvel Pelle, andAnthony Brown at the time, as well as re-signing veterans likeJJ Redick,Amir Johnson, andDemetrius Jackson.
On August 24, 2020, Brown was fired by the 76ers after being swept out of the first round of the2020 NBA playoffs by theBoston Celtics.[23]
On June 30, 2022, Brown re-joined theSan Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach.[24]
Brown was an assistant coach of theAustralia national team between 1995 and 2003, serving during the1998 FIBA World Championship and the1996 and2000 Summer Olympics.[12] He was hired in 2009 to serve as head coach of the team, and held that position until 2012.[12] Under Brown, Australia finished 10th in the2010 FIBA World Championship.[12] In the2012 Summer Olympics, he led Australia to the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by theUnited States national team, who won the tournament.[3]
On November 27, 2019, Brown returned to Australia national team as head coach replacingAndrej Lemanis.[25][26] He was expected to lead the team at the2020 Summer Olympics but it was delayed by theCOVID-19 pandemic until 2021. Brown quit his role on October 13, 2020, without having led the team in a game. He cited his career uncertainty after his firing from the 76ers and the difficulties of travelling with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the reasons for his departure.[27]
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 2013–14 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | 5th inAtlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Philadelphia | 2014–15 | 82 | 18 | 64 | .220 | 4th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Philadelphia | 2015–16 | 82 | 10 | 72 | .122 | 5th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Philadelphia | 2016–17 | 82 | 28 | 54 | .341 | 4th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Philadelphia | 2017–18 | 82 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 3rd in Atlantic | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | Lost inconference semifinals |
| Philadelphia | 2018–19 | 82 | 51 | 31 | .622 | 2nd in Atlantic | 12 | 7 | 5 | .583 | Lost inconference semifinals |
| Philadelphia | 2019–20 | 73 | 43 | 30 | .589 | 3rd in Atlantic | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | Lost infirst round |
| Total | 565 | 221 | 344 | .391 | 26 | 12 | 14 | .462 | |||
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Melbourne | 1993 | 29 | 14 | 15 | .483 | 8th | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Lost in quarter-finals |
| North Melbourne | 1994 | 33 | 25 | 8 | .758 | 1st | 7 | 6 | 1 | .857 | WonNBL Finals |
| North Melbourne | 1995 | 34 | 23 | 11 | .676 | 2nd | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 | Lost inNBL Finals |
| North Melbourne | 1996 | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | 7th | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | Lost in quarter-finals |
| North Melbourne | 1997 | 35 | 20 | 15 | .571 | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost in semi-finals |
| North Melbourne | 1998 | 30 | 9 | 21 | .300 | 11th | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| North Melbourne total | 189 | 106 | 83 | .561 | 25 | 14 | 11 | .560 | 1 NBL championship | ||
| Sydney Kings | 2000–01 | 31 | 18 | 13 | .581 | 5th | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Lost in quarter-finals |
| Sydney Kings | 2001–02 | 30 | 14 | 16 | .467 | 7th | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Sydney total | 61 | 32 | 29 | .525 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | — | ||
| Total | 250 | 138 | 112 | .552 | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | 1 NBL championships | ||
Brown met and married his wife, Anna, in Australia. They have two daughters, Julia and Laura, and a son, Sam.[3] The family resides inSan Antonio, Texas.
Links to related articles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
