Brett Brown’s sincere passion for player development has always been one of his standout qualities as a coach.
He’s reportedly expected to return to his first NBA stop and join a Spurs team that’s clearly prioritizing youth.
Sportando's Emiliano Carchia reported Thursday morning that Brown, the Sixers’ head coach from 2013 through 2020, is expected to rejoin San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich’s staff.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Former Spurs assistant Becky Hammon accepted the Las Vegas Aces’ head coaching job in December and has her team at the top of the WNBA’s Western Conference.
Brown’s extraordinarily busy seven years in Philadelphia began with three “Process”-oriented seasons under general manager Sam Hinkie in which the Sixers won a total of 47 games. With Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons emerging as All-Star talents, he led the team to 50-win campaigns in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
A season-ending left knee injury for Simmons during the NBA’s “bubble” season contributed to the Sixers being swept in the first round of the 2020 playoffs by the Celtics.
NBA
After Game 4, Josh Richardson (now on the Spurs) said of Brown, “He’s a good guy. He’s a good man. He means well. I just think going forward, we’ve just got to have some more accountability. I don’t think there was much accountability this season and I think that was part of our problem.”
Brown was fired soon after by general manager Elton Brand and the Sixers ultimately hired Doc Rivers as their new head coach.
“It’s not an easy decision,” Brand said at the time. “Brett was a great friend — he is a great friend; he’ll always be family. He’s guided this team through a lot of adversity and challenges and he’s helped develop some of the game’s youngest and brightest talented players. He’ll be missed, for sure. I respect him deeply on a personal level and a professional level, and I wish him well and thank him for everything he’s done for me and this organization.”
Former Brown assistants Monty Williams and Ime Udoka have recently won conference championships with the Suns and Celtics, respectively.
Though the Spurs qualified for the NBA’s play-in tournament last year, the team hasn’t won a playoff round since the 2016-17 season. San Antonio reportedly dealt away All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, acquiring three first-round picks and a 2027 first-round pick swap. No. 9 overall pick Jeremy Sochan, Josh Primo, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Romeo Langford are players on the Spurs’ current roster 22 years old or younger.
The 61-year-old Brown moved from Australia to become the Spurs’ director of player development in 2002. Twenty years later, he’s apparently set to be back in a very familiar spot.
Brown’s son, Lower Merion lefty shooter Sam Brown, committed in May to play basketball at the University of Pennsylvania.