Larry Brown

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Knicks coach, 2006
Knicks coach, 2006

Lawrence Harvey Brown (born September 14, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) was a college and professional player and college and professional coach.

He has been a college and professional basketball coach since 1975. He has won over 1,000 professional games in the ABA and the NBA and is the only coach in NBA history to lead seven different teams to the playoffs. He is 1,285-853 in his career. He is also the only coach in history to win both an NCAA National Championship (Kansas Jayhawks, 1988) and an NBA Championship (Detroit Pistons, 2004).

Brown was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 27, 2002.

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Player

Brown, a 5' 9" (1.74 m) point guard, attended Long Beach High School and then the University of North Carolina under legendary coach Dean Smith. A stellar player for the Tar Heels in the early 1960s, Brown was considered too small to play in the NBA, though he was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in the 7th round of the 1963 NBA Draft.

He began his professional playing career with the National AAU Basketball League's (NABL) Akron Wingfoots, where he played for two years (1964-66). He led the Wingfoots to the 1964 AAU National Championship and was named MVP of the AAU Finals.

In 1964 Brown was selected for the USA Olympic team.

Larry Brown, New Orleans Buccaneers, 1967-68.
Larry Brown, New Orleans Buccaneers, 1967-68.

After a brief stint as an assistant coach at North Carolina, Brown joined the upstart American Basketball Association, playing with the New Orleans Buccaneers (1967-68), Oakland Oaks (1968-69), Washington Caps (1969-70), Virginia Squires (1970-71), and Denver Rockets (1971-72). Brown was named MVP of the ABA's first All-Star Game in 1968, and was named to the All-ABA Second Team the same year. Brown led the ABA in assists per game during the league's first three seasons, and when he ended his playing career, Brown was the ABA's all-time assist leader. His total of 2509 assists places him 7th on the ABA's career list.

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ABA Highlights

  • Performed in three ABA All-Star Games
  • MVP of first ABA All-Star Game in 1968
  • Quarterbacked Oakland Oaks to ABA Championship in 1968-69
  • Led ABA in assists in 1967-68, 1968-69, and 1969-70
  • Finished ninth in assists in 1970-71 and third in assists in 1971-72
  • Ended playing career as ABA's career assist leader (2,509 in 376 games)
  • Coached for four years in the ABA with Carolina (1972-73 to 1973-74) and Denver (1974-75 to 1975-76)
  • Four-year record of 299-107 for a stellar .682 winning percentage
  • Named ABA Coach of the Year three times (in 1972-73 with Carolina and both years with Denver)
  • Had a 79-5 home record with Denver in the ABA
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Coach

Brown's first head coaching job was at Davidson College in North Carolina. Unfortunately for Wildcat fans, it would only last during the summer offseason and he never coached a game. That one month experience would be a harbinger of Brown's nomadic coaching career.

Larry Brown, ABA coach
Larry Brown, ABA coach

Brown moved on to the ABA and coached with the Carolina Cougars and then the Denver Rockets, who later became the NBA's Denver Nuggets in 1976, for three and a half seasons from 1975 to 1979. He then moved on to coach for UCLA (1979-81), leading his freshman-dominated 1979-80 team to the NCAA title game before falling to Louisville, 59-54. But because of NCAA violations, UCLA was forced to vacate its place in the title game.

After two years with the NBA's New Jersey Nets, Brown began his tenure at the University of Kansas (1983-88). There he was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1988 and Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1986. Kansas finished first in the Big Eight in 1986, and second in 1984, 1985, and 1987. In 1988, Kansas got off to a mediocre 12-8 start, including 1-4 in the Big 8, and the end of the Jayhawks' 55-game homecourt winning steak in Allen Fieldhouse. Ultimately, behind the high-scoring of Danny Manning, KU finished 27-11 and won the the national championship in 1988, defeating favored conference rival Oklahoma 83-79 in the final. Upon leaving Kansas, Brown had five NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16 appearances, and two trips to the Final Four. As a collegiate coach, he had a cumulative coaching record of 177-61 (.744) in seven seasons, including a 135-44 (.754) record at Kansas. However, he left under a cloud, as NCAA sanctions were levied against Kansas in the 1988-89 season as a result of recruiting violations that took place during Brown's tenure.

Brown moved back to the NBA after his time in Kansas, taking the head coaching job with the San Antonio Spurs, and has since led the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. The coach won his first NBA Championship during his first year with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one in the NBA Finals. By doing so, Brown became the first man to coach teams to both NCAA and NBA titles.

Brown was also chosen as the head coach for the USA men's basketball team at the 2004 Olympics, which earned a bronze medal.

Though he has received criticism for never staying in any one place for very long, Brown is hailed as one of basketball's greatest teachers, and is unparalleled as a rebuilder of teams. The Nets and the Clippers are not only the "second teams" in their metropolitan areas, but have long been regarded as laughingstock franchises. Prior to the 2001 arrival of Jason Kidd, the Nets had made the Playoffs in only 10 of their first 25 seasons in the NBA. Two of those 10 times were in 1982 and 1983, under Brown. The Clippers, in San Diego and Los Angeles combined, made the Playoffs in only three of their first 27 seasons. The first two of those times were in 1992 and 1993, under Brown. Those were also the second and third of the three times the franchise had finished .500 or better since moving in 1978, after being the Buffalo Braves, until finishing over .500 and making the playoffs in 2006. In 2005, Allen Iverson said that Larry Brown was without a doubt "the best coach in the world."

Despite Brown's prowess in coaching and handling different egos and personalities, Brown has often been questioned for not playing rookies, and for searching publicly for other jobs while still employed. This happened most recently in May 2005, when rumors surfaced that Brown would become the Cleveland Cavaliers' team president as soon as the Detroit Pistons finished their postseason. The rumor, which was not dispelled by Brown, became a major distraction as the Pistons lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the 2005 NBA Finals.

On July 19, 2005, the Pistons, displeased with Brown's public flirtations with other teams, bought out the remaining years of Brown's contract, allowing him to sign with another team. A week later, on July 28, Brown became the head coach of the New York Knicks, with a 5-year contract reportedly worth between $50 million and $60 million, making him the highest-paid coach in NBA history.

On January 13, 2006, The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks to give Brown his 1,000th win in the NBA, becoming only the 4th coach to do so, joining the ranks of Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson and Pat Riley. Coincidentally, all four of these coaches have served as head coach for the Knicks at one point in their career.

The Knicks finished the 2005-06 season with a 23-59 record, good for second worst in the NBA. Brown received criticism from media and fans. Throughout the season, news reports suggested that the players "quit" on Brown and were tired of him berating them through the media. Observers also questioned his shuffling of the starting lineup and bizarre in-game rotations. Brown set a record by using 42 different starting lineups. As an example, late in 2005, Brown labeled Trevor Ariza as being delusional when he questioned his lack of playing time. Two months later, Ariza was traded to Orlando for Steve Francis. His rocky relationship with Stephon Marbury deteriorated even further when the point guard blamed the team's woeful record on Brown. While he initially responded diplomatically to such accusations, Brown later criticized Marbury and suggested that observers should compare Brown's track record with Marbury's to determine who is better suited to rebuild a franchise.

On June 22, 2006 the New York Knicks fired Larry Brown, replacing him with President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Isiah Thomas. They refused to pay him the $40 million left in his contract, arguing that Brown "violated terms of his contract through various acts of insubordination." Brown took the dispute to Commissioner David Stern and hired law firm Williams & Connolly to represent him. Brown and the Knicks reached a settlement on the remainder of his contract on October 30, 2006 for 18.5 million dollars.

Brown also served as a consultant for the Philadelphia 76ers to team president Billy King. Brown was responsible for hiring King as 76ers general manager in 1997. Amongst his duties were brokering the deal to trade disgruntled guard Allen Iverson.

On January 5, 2007, the 76ers named Brown their executive vice president. He assists President King and the team's basketball operations department.

In a recent interview with Stephen A. Smith, Brown commented on the possibility of coaching the Charlotte Bobcats next season. "As far as Charlotte goes," he said, "everyone knows I have a very special relationship with Michael (Jordan). I've known him for years. We're family, and I love him. So saying 'no' to him would be almost impossible for me, just because it would be hard for me to say 'no' to him about anything."

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Coaching Stops

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External Links

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