Herbert Brown (born March 14, 1936) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and the brother of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. He is the former head coach of the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

(1976–78).

Career

Brown succeeded Ray Scott when he was promoted from assistant to head coach of a

team that was at 17–25 on January 26, 1976. The 39-year-old Brown went 19–21 in his first season with the Pistons who won 10 of their last 11 games of the regular season. He then guided the team into the second round of the NBA playoffs where the Pistons lost to Golden State, four games to two. The following season, the Pistons went 44–38 under Brown, before losing in the first round of the playoffs to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

The Pistons fired Brown on December 15, 1977, after a 9–15 start to the 1977–78 NBA season, replacing him with the team's 32-year-old general manager, Bob Kauffman, who went 29–29 as head coach. In 1978, Brown was named head coach of the Tucson Gunners, a franchise in the newly formed

Western Basketball Association The Western Basketball Association was formed in 1978 and played for one season during 1978–79. Organized by Larry Cregar, a former assistant coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and real ...

(WBA). He was named WBA Coach of the Year after guiding the team to a 32–16 record and the league championship, where Tucson beat Reno (which was coached by

Bill Musselman William Clifford Musselman (August 13, 1940 – May 5, 2000) was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was known for his trademark intensity, once being quoted as saying, "Defeat is worse than deat ...

), four games to three. Brown was head coach of the

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

Coquis of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball mi ...

(CBA) from 1983–85, going 28–16 and 27–21, in 1983–84 and 1984–85, respectively. He earned CBA Coach of the Year honors following the 1983–84 season. He also coached the Cincinnati Slammers of the CBA in 1985–86. In June 1990, Brown was named head coach and vice president of basketball operations for the

Baltimore BayRunners The Baltimore Bayrunners were a professional basketball team in the International Basketball League (IBL) from 1999 to 2000. The Bayrunners were the first professional basketball team in Baltimore, Maryland since the Bullets re-located to Washingt ...

of the International Basketball League (IBL). He was fired after going 10–20 in the team's inaugural season. The BayRunners won just seven more games after firing Brown to finish the season at 17–47. The Bobcats are Brown's third team on which he has served under brother Larry. Together, they helped coach the Pistons to the NBA championship in 2004, and led 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 ...

to the

2001 NBA Finals The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2000–01 season. The defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers took on the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia ...

. Brown has also served as an assistant coach for several teams, including the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

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

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. He also coached overseas, most notably in Spain in the early 1990s. At the college level, Brown was head basketball coach at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

from 1964–69, earning Coach of the Year honors following the 1969 season. Brown served as head coach at C.W. Post (of

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

) from 1972–74, going 21–5 and 13–12 over two seasons. On September 3, 2014, Brown was named an assistant coach at Portland.

Head coaching record

College

NBA

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WBA

CBA

IBL

Personal life and education

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Brown is a graduate of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...

. The author of three books about basketball, he runs a Basketball Academy in the summer at the New Jersey Y Camps. In 2006, he was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

. Brown now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife. He has two children—in Charlotte and Atlanta—and two stepchildren.

References

External links

NBA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Herb 1936 births Living people American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Basketball players from New York City Basketball coaches from New York (state) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Charlotte Bobcats assistant coaches Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Continental Basketball Association coaches Detroit Pistons assistant coaches Detroit Pistons head coaches Houston Rockets assistant coaches Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Joventut Badalona coaches Liga ACB players LIU Post Pioneers men's basketball coaches Saski Baskonia coaches Sportspeople from Brooklyn Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Portland Pilots men's basketball coaches Portland Trail Blazers assistant coaches Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball coaches Vermont Catamounts men's basketball players Valencia Basket coaches Western Basketball Association coaches International Basketball League (1999–2001) coaches 21st-century American Jews