A familiar face was in the City of Brotherly Love on Saturday night. With the San Antonio Spurs in town to face the Philadelphia 76ers, former head coach Brett Brown was on the visitor’s bench as he now coaches under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.
In 2013, the Sixers hired Brown from the Spurs’ staff as they entered their rebuilding era. Considering Brown had an impressive background in developing younger players, he made sense for the job since the Sixers planned to stay young until they had enough pieces to build a contender.
Even when the Sixers started to contend in the postseason during the 2017 season, Brown managed to stick around. While there were always rumors and speculation about his job security as the Sixers struggled to go beyond the “playoff-contender” level, Brown remained with the Sixers through three playoff runs.
Following a disappointing first-round exit in 2020, Brown and the Sixers parted ways. For the first time in seven seasons, Brown was a free agent. Typically, longtime head coaches find a new position within weeks or months, but Brown took a break from basketball.
Over the last two years, Brown stayed away from the game. This season, he returned to his NBA roots and reunited with Popovich in San Antonio. When Brown and the rest of the Spurs organization came to the Wells Fargo Center in Philly on Saturday, the 76ers played a small tribute for Brown during a timeout in the first quarter.
“He was head coach for seven seasons from 2013 to 2020, leading the team to the playoffs three times, twice winning 50-plus games in a season,” said Sixers’ in-arena announcer Matt Cord. “Now, an assistant coach for San Antonio; Welcome back, Brett Brown!”
The small tribute was met with mixed reviews but had enough cheers to make it a feel-good moment for a coach who went through a lot during his time in Philadelphia. While the Brown era didn’t deliver a championship or even a conference title, he led the team through some difficult times and stuck around when not many coaches would have.
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