Sources: Larry Brown stepping down as 76ers coach

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Sources: Larry Brown stepping down as 76ers coach
05/26/2003

Associated Press


PHILADELPHIA - Larry Brown will step down as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers after six seasons, two team sources said Monday.

The team called an afternoon news conference, but would not say if Brown is leaving.

Brown reportedly is a candidate for coaching vacancies in Cleveland and Houston.

The sources, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, would not give Brown's reason for the move.

Brown had two years remaining on a contract that paid him $6 million per season. The contract prohibits him from coaching another NBA team if he leaves prematurely, a clause that would have to be waived by the team for him to take another NBA job.

Brown's job with the Sixers was his longest tenure with any team in his 31-year coaching career. He led the team to the playoffs five straight years, including the 2001 NBA Finals, and is to coach the 2004 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.

The 62-year-old Brown had been contemplating stepping down since Philadelphia lost its second-round playoff series to the Detroit Pistons in six games. The Sixers overcame a mediocre start, won 23 of their final 33 games and finished 48-34 this season.

But after beating New Orleans in six games in the first round, the Sixers couldn't get past the top-seeded Pistons, losing twice in overtime and once on a last-second shot that was goaltended.

LeBron James, expected to go to the Cavaliers with the top pick in the NBA draft on June 26, said he would be happy if Brown ended up in Cleveland.

"I think Larry Brown is a great teacher if we can get him," J ames said during an interview at halftime of TNT's broadcast of the San Antonio-Dallas playoff game Sunday night. "I consider myself a student of the game, so Larry Brown would be great."

Brown came to Philadelphia in 1997, taking over a perennial loser that hadn't been to the playoffs since 1991. With help from then-president Pat Croce, Brown turned the Sixers from a laughingstock franchise into one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

In 2000-01, Brown led the Sixers to a 56-26 record and first place in the East. Philadelphia advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 18 years, before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

Brown won the NBA's Coach of the Year honors that season, the only time he ever won the award. Brown was Coach of the Year in the ABA three times in four seasons.

Brown has had a turbulent time in Philadelphia. He had a contentious relationship with Allen Iverson, but the two worked together despite several disputes.

At one point, the All-Star guard nearly was traded. A few times, Brown came close to leaving, and once had to be talked out of quitting by Croce and general manager Billy King.

Brown twice considered the possibility of returning to coach his alma mater, North Carolina. He interviewed for the job in 2000, but didn't get a call when the Tar Heels were looking for a replacement for Matt Doherty in April.

During the series against Detroit, Brown said in a television interview that he would've taken the North Carolina job this time had Dean Smith, his former coach and mentor, asked him to return.

The Hall of Fame coach has compiled a record of 879-685 in the NBA, and 1,285-853 overall, including ABA and college. Brown won an NCAA national championship with Kansas in 1988. He became the first coach to take six NBA teams to the playoffs when the Sixers made it in 1999.

The Sixers were 255-205 under Brown, and 26-30 in the playoffs.

Brown has had winning records in 27 of his 31 seasons as a head coach on the professional and collegiate levels. He finished first in his division six times and reached the Eastern Conference finals three times.

A three-time All-Star guard in the ABA, Brown is the only U.S. male to play and coach in the Olympics.