Brett William Brown (born February 16, 1961) is an American professional

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

who is an assistant coach for the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). Brown is a former

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player who previously served as head coach for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

from 2013 to 2020. Before that, Brown was an assistant on

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Taking over as coach of the Spur ...

's staff on the Spurs. He also has extensive experience coaching in Australia, having been the head coach of the

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

and

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Playing career

High school

Born and raised in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

, Brown first played organized basketball in Rockland, was a star guard in junior high school there, and then his father was hired as the head coach. Brown transferred to South Portland where he became a star basketball player at

South Portland High School South Portland High School is a public high school located in South Portland, Maine, United States. The first high school in what is now South Portland was built in 1874 while the City was part of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The school was on the 2nd ...

, from which he graduated in 1979. Brown was a two-year first-team all-state guard in 1978 and 1979, and led his team to a 27–0 record and a State Class A Title in his senior year. Both Brown and his father, Bob Brown, who was South Portland's head coach during Brown's playing career, are inductees to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Collegiate career

Brown played four seasons at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

under

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...

. He was named the Lou Cohen MVP in his sophomore year and served as the team captain in both his junior and senior seasons. During his senior year in 1983, the

Boston Terriers The Boston University Terriers are the ten men's and fourteen women's varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. Boston University's team nickname is the Terriers, and the official mascot is Rhett the ...

made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1959. By the time he graduated, Brown had compiled the fourth-most assists in school history. After graduation, he served as a graduate assistant under coach

John Kuester John Dewitt Kuester Jr.
''Basketball-Reference.com'' (; born February 6, 1955) is an American

. Brown also took a sales job with

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

, saving enough money to take a backpacking trip to

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

in 1987.

Coaching career

NBL

In 1988, after a coaching stint in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

with Altos Auckland, Brown made a cold call to

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...

head coach

Lindsay Gaze Lindsay John Casson Gaze (born 16 August 1936) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. He played for Australia in three Summer Olympics qualification tournaments, between 1960 and 1968, and was the head coach of the senior Austr ...

, ultimately leading to a job offer and Brown making

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

his home for the next 18 years. He served as a Tigers assistant coach until 1993, when he became head coach of the

. Brown was named

NBL coach of the year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1980 NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season. At the season's end, each club's Head Coach, one Assistant Coach a ...

in 1994, when he led the Giants to a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

victory over the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

. He served as head coach of the Giants until 1998, before taking a job with the

. Following his stint with the Spurs, Brown coached the

from 2000 to 2002. Overall, he was a head coach for 278 NBL games, winning 54 percent of the time.

San Antonio Spurs

After attending a basketball camp run by Brown and Andrew Gaze,

general manager

R. C. Buford Robert Canterbury Buford (born 1960) is an American basketball executive, currently CEO of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named general manager in 2002 after five seasons serving as team president. Buf ...

hired Brown as an unpaid member of the Spurs' basketball operations department for the 1998–99 lockout-shortened season. In 2002, after a stint with the

, he again took a position with the Spurs, this time as the team's director of player development. Buford credited him with focusing attention on the team's lesser-known players, creating a consistently strong bench; this philosophy would continue to benefit the Spurs even after Brown left his role as player development director. He was promoted to assistant coach in September 2007, working under coach

. Popovich calls Brown "one of his best friends," and Brown would later incorporate many of Popovich's concepts into his own offensive system. He played a major role in signing Australian guard

Patty Mills Patrick Sammy Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mills was born and raised in Canberra, and is of Torres Strait Islander and Aborigin ...

, who played under him for the Australian national team. Brown was a member of the Spurs organization for four of their

-winning seasons.

Philadelphia 76ers

During the 2013 NBA off-season, Brown was offered a chance to succeed

Mike Budenholzer Michael Vincent Budenholzer (born August 6, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before joining the Bucks, he spent five seasons as head coac ...

as the top assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff, but in August 2013, he chose instead to become head coach of the

. He inherited a team in "total rebuilding mode" led by new general manager

Sam Hinkie Samuel William Wallace Hinkie (born December 1977) is an American businessman and former basketball executive who served as the general manager for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2013 to 2016. Hinkie ...

, and the Sixers were only able to woo Brown away from the Spurs after offering a 4-year guaranteed contract. His appointment made him the 24th head coach in the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

of the franchise, and the second person to be a head coach in both the NBL and the NBA, following

Mike Dunlap Michael Gregory Dunlap (born May 27, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who serves as assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. Dunlap is the former head coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. ...

. The Sixers were the youngest team in the league during Brown's first year, and one of the youngest of all time. During the second half of the 2013–14 season, the Sixers would lose 26 games in a row, tying the record for longest NBA losing streak. Sixers point guard

Michael Carter-Williams Michael Carter-Williams (born October 10, 1991) is an American professional basketball player. He was drafted in the first round with the 11th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, after playing college basketball for the ...

won the

NBA Rookie of the Year Award The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Go ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, and credited Brown for helping him win the award and grow as a player. On December 11, 2015, the 76ers signed Brown to a contract extension. On May 31, 2018, the 76ers signed Brown to another contract extension, coming off their first playoff appearance since 2012. On June 7, 2018, Brown was named interim general manager after Bryan Colangelo resigned after a social media scandal, where he criticized team members. On August 24, 2020, Brown was fired by the 76ers after being swept out of the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Return to San Antonio

On June 30, 2022, Brown re-joined the

as an assistant coach.

National team career

Brown was an assistant coach of the Australia national team between 1995 and 2003, serving during the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

and the 1996 and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. He was hired in 2009 to serve as head coach of the team, and held that position until 2012. Under Brown, Australia finished 10th in the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, he led Australia to the Quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by the United States national team, who won the tournament. On November 27, 2019, Brown returned to Australia national team as head coach replacing Andrej Lemanis. He was expected to lead the team at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

but it was delayed by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

until 2021. Brown quit his role on October 13, 2020, without having led the team in a game. He cited his career uncertainty after his firing from the 76ers and the difficulties of travelling with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the reasons for his departure.

Head coaching record

NBA

, - , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, align="left" , , 82, , 19, , 63, , , , align="center" , 5th in

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

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, align="left" , , 82, , 18, , 64, , , , align="center" , 4th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , —, , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 10, , 72, , , , align="center" , 5th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , —, , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 28, , 54, , , , align="center" , 4th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , —, , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 52, , 30, , , , align="center" , 3rd in Atlantic, , 10, , 5, , 5, , , , align="center" , Lost in Conference Semifinals , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 51, , 31, , , , align="center" , 2nd in Atlantic, , 12, , 7, , 5, , , , align="center" , Lost in Conference Semifinals , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 73, , 43, , 30, , , , align="center" , 3rd in Atlantic, , 4, , 0, , 4, , , , align="center" , Lost in First Round , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Total , 565, , 221, , 344, , , , , , 26, , 12, , 14, , , ,

NBL

, - , align="left" ,

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

, align="left" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, 29, , 14, , 15, , , , align="center" , 8th , , 3 , , 1 , , 2 , , , , align="center" , Lost in Quarter Finals , - , align="left" , North Melbourne , align="left" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, 33, , 25, , 8, , , , align="center" , 1st , , 7 , , 6 , , 1 , , , , align="center" , Won NBL Finals , - , align="left" , North Melbourne , align="left" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, 34, , 23, , 11, , , , align="center" , 2nd , , 8 , , 5 , , 3 , , , , align="center" , Lost in NBL Finals , - , align="left" , North Melbourne , align="left" , 1996 , 28, , 15, , 13, , , , align="center" , 7th , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , , , , align="center" , Lost in Quarter Finals , - , align="left" , North Melbourne , align="left" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, 35, , 20, , 15, , , , align="center" , 3rd , , 5 , , 2 , , 3 , , , , align="center" , Lost in Semi-Finals , - , align="left" , North Melbourne , align="left" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 30, , 9, , 21, , , , align="center" , 11th , , — , , — , , — , , — , , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="center" colspan="2" , North Melbourne total , 189, , 106, , 83, , , , , , 25 , , 14 , , 11 , , , , align="center", 1 NBL championship , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2000–01 , 31, , 18, , 13, , , , align="center" , 5th , , 3 , , 1 , , 2 , , , , align="center" , Lost in Quarter Finals , - , align="left" , Sydney Kings , align="left" , 2001–02 , 30, , 14, , 16, , , , align="center" , 7th , , — , , — , , — , , — , , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="center" colspan="2" , Sydney total , 61, , 32, , 29, , , , , , 3 , , 1 , , 2 , , , , align="center", — , - , align="center" colspan="2" , Total , 250, , 138, , 112, , , , , , 28, , 15, , 13, , , , align="center", 1 NBL championships

Personal life

Brown met and married his wife, Anna, in Australia. They have two daughters and a son, Sam. The family resides in

Lower Merion, Pennsylvania Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language transcription of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Brett 1961 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Maine Basketball players from Maine Boston University Terriers men's basketball players National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Sportspeople from South Portland, Maine Philadelphia 76ers head coaches San Antonio Spurs assistant coaches South Portland High School alumni Sydney Kings coaches