Brett Brown, walking by himself in the Maine woods when he was reached by phone last Friday afternoon, pronounced himself “slightly beneath outstanding.”
“Just a little bit,” the 76ers’ former coach said. “Just a sliver.”
A slivah, in Brown’s distinctive New England/Australian accent.
He has scarcely been heard from since the Sixers fired him in August 2020, after seven years on the job. But when I called to discuss the retirement last week of JJ Redick, Brown was only too happy to oblige. He said Redick, who enjoyed the two biggest scoring seasons of his 15-year career playing for him, was “amongst a handful of my favorites” and added that “his days with me, selfishly, were personally my most memorable, my most fond days in Philadelphia.”
Our 20-minute conversation meandered to other topics as well. While he politely declined to discuss the ongoing Ben Simmons fiasco — a stance he has taken as a matter of course with all reporters who reach out to him — he expressed wonder at the randomness of coaching (if not life), satisfaction at where things stand with him, family-wise, and determination to return to the NBA at some point.
As he put it, he keeps in touch with his “two decades worth of coaching friends” and holds out “hope to be a head coach again one day.” In other words there’s a yearning to return to the maelstrom in which he was only recently immersed (and in which Doc Rivers finds himself now, with training camp opening this week).
There’s no rush; Brown’s contract with the Sixers runs through the end of the ‘21-22 season. He is free to do what he wants for the time being, which since his dismissal has included frequent trips from his suburban Philadelphia home to his hometown of Portland, Maine, where he looks in on his 80-something parents; he has also taken time to remodel a downtown loft there.
In the meantime the three children he has with his wife Anna have reached interesting junctures in their lives. The oldest, Julia, who has special needs and was profiled in October 2020 by the Main Line Times, is getting a place of her own. The middle child, Laura, is in Temple Dental School, and the youngest, Sam, is beginning his junior year at Lower Merion, where his basketball career is gaining momentum.
According to the elder Brown, Sam, a “wannabe hooper” (Brett’s words) and good student, has received recruiting interest, and to that end has visited Harvard and Penn, and plans to visit Richmond as well.
“And,” Brett said, “that’s all been just a real lot of fun for me.”
He was no less gratified by the fact that Mike Budenholzer, his friend and former colleague on the San Antonio staff, won a championship as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks over the summer.
“Maybe he’s a Kyrie Irving sprained ankle away from being fired,” Brown said, referring to an injury suffered by the Brooklyn Nets star against the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brooklyn’s James Harden was also limited by a hamstring pull, but the Nets might have won the series anyway, if Kevin Durant’s toe hadn’t been on the line when he appeared to bury a decisive 3-pointer in the closing seconds of Game Seven. As it was, the Bucks won in overtime, then beat Phoenix in the Finals.
“Maybe, maybe, maybe — we’ve all got those stories,” Brown said. “That’s the fragility of our world.”
Then he reflected back on the improbable four-bounce corner jumper Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard coaxed in to beat the Sixers at the buzzer, in Game Seven of the 2019 Eastern semis.
“Kawhi’s shot doesn’t go in, maybe we’re going to win a championship,” Brown said. “Forget sport — it’s the way life works.”
That ‘18-19 team was undoubtedly the best Brown coached in his time with the Sixers, as it featured not only Redick and Simmons but Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. Butler left after that season, as did Redick, for New Orleans. He spent a season and a half there, then bowed out at age 37, after 13 injury-marred games with Dallas last season.
Brown revered Redick not only for his sublime shooting — his 41.5 percent marksmanship from the arc is third-best among those attempting at least 4,500 career 3s, according to Statmuse.com — but also his leadership, sense of humor and smarts. That was evident from the moment the Sixers signed him, shortly after midnight on July 1, 2017.
“We’re probably in an office for 10 minutes, and we were on a court (in the team’s practice facility) for probably two hours,” Brown said.
Embiid happened to be there, and the three of them began reviewing the ways in which Redick might be used in concert with the team’s centerpiece. And never mind that Redick was in street clothes; they walked through things again and again, Redick’s basketball IQ immediately apparent.
“For players and coaches for sure, life makes a hell of a lot more sense when you can get on a court, and just talk about the things that we spoke of,” Brown said.
Brown has a saying: “The gym will speak,” meaning that everything about a team can be determined on the practice court. That turned out to be true for Redick, who averaged 17.1 and 18.1 points a night in his two seasons with the Sixers, as well as Embiid, who continued his climb into the stratosphere.
“And the engagement that Joel and JJ had, it was clear,” Brown said. “And when you fast-forward to the years that I coached him, when it’s 92-92 with three minutes left, those two were in an action. And funny enough, when you rewind it, lots of those things that we spoke about were talked about the night that he signed.”
Much has changed since. So many key pieces gone, and Simmons apparently about to go. But Brown, at least, is “slightly beneath outstanding,” and the gym continues to speak to him, continues to beckon.
My Reasons for Brett Brown to be a coach developing basketball players.”
Background. Brett Brown was the head coach of the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers. Previously he was the director of player development of the NBA San Antonio Spurs. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich hired him in this position. Under Brett Brown’s tutelage, the Spurs won four NBA finals championships.
Here are some of Gregg Popovich’s thoughts on his former assistant. “He is the most incredible positive sort of force I know. He loves the game of basketball. He is even-tempered. He loves the process” He loves to develop players.”
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Brown’s successful development of players continues as head coach of the Philadelphia Sixers. He became the Seventy-Sixers head coach in 2013. Previously he was at the very top level of the San Antonio assisting team.
“Sixers Sense” writer Pete Sawan wrote in 2017, “When he was with the San Antonio Spurs, Brett Brown essentially oversaw the talent on the roster. His primary work was making certain some of the fringe players could compete when necessary. This role was helpful to Brown to understand the value in all players. Pete Sawan comments how it never occurs to him to play favorites. Every team member he believes is equally important. He knows how to get the most out of his men. There is a proven history of him getting below-average players to thrive.”
The Philadelphia NBA team was the only time he was a head coach. I’m uncertain if being an assistant coach was enough preparation for being a head coach. Being an assistant coach this time would give him more experience for a second head coach position.
“Air Alamo” s Dylan Carter’s editorial suggests the coach should return to the San Antonio Spurs as a players development coach. Or, he should return supervising relevant coaches. In this way, there can be a real opportunity to be a coach to help improve players. Carter writes his report just after Brown is fired in August 2020 as head coach of the Phila team.
` While he was head coach of the Sixers, Brown continued with his player development skills. He helped develop the following team members:
One Robert Covington. Robert Covington aka, “Roco,” started as a small forward back in 2017. His skill significantly transforms through Brown’s coaching. He guided the six-foot-seven wing into being capable of getting 12.6 points per game. This improvement is during Robert’s time as a Sixers. From the floor, Covington’s shooting noticeably improves. Brett Brown maximizes Covington’s skills. The result is a much-improved player. Under the coach’s development, Robert Covington became one of the best defenders at his position. In his premiere year with the Seventy-Sixers 2014-2015 season, the 76er defensive box plus/minus went from a 0.5 to a 2.0. That means he is one of the top 30 ball defenders in the NBA. It is clear, Brown’s coaching and player development turned him around into a premier ball defender.
T.J. McConnell (Timothy John McConnell Jr) McConnell could effectively manage an offensive move. Brett would develop him into an efficient mid-range shooter with good defensive skills. The result is McConnell is an effective all-around player who defends the ball well.
There is Michael Carter Williams. He says Brown significantly helped him develop as a player. Williams won the National Basketball Association 2014 Rookie of the year award. He credited Brown for helping him win that honor and grow as a player.
The power forward showed definite improvements with his time with the Sixers. He much improved the defensive handling of the ball. From 2018 Holmes’ defensive box plus/minus went from an
0.1 to a 1.5. While that may not be league-leading, it still shows Brown can get the most out of his men.
J.J Reddick was an established sharpshooting veteran when he became a Sixer in the 2017-18 season. Yet, despite being in his mid-30s during his 76ers tenure, it was the best time of his basketball playing under Brown. J.J. Redick performs two seasons of career-highs with points per game. Redick averages 17.6 points on 40.7 percent from downtown. He played for the team when he was thirty-three and thirty-four. Statistics showed the coach greatly improved Reddick’s game.
I can only discuss these two teams since they are the only NBA teams Brett Brown was ever involved with
So-called Counter Arguments. It is a cut in salary. Fact: The man’s yearly salary was two million dollars. Sixers owner Josh Harris needed to pay him ten million dollars to break his contract. It seems he doesn’t need to be worried about his finances.
Plus, there would be less concern over team member trades. He would be free from management decisions. He would only be dealing with developing the basketball skills of professional players. It is a talent that he is proven to have in two professional NBA teams.
Brett Brown is an experienced, proven developer of budding NBA players. It would be less pressure than being a head coach. Plus fewer dealings with the front office. The most pertinent factors are the following. Is there a player development coach position or supervisory position? If there is one, would he be willing to take it? I realize it is his decision. The ball is in his court.