Larry Brown (basketball)

Lawrence Harvey "Larry" Brown (born September 14, 1940) is an American basketball coach, who is currently the head coach at Southern Methodist University. Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and professionally in the ABA. He has been a college and professional basketball coach since 1972. He has won over 1,000 professional games in the ABA and the NBA and is the only coach in NBA history to lead eight different teams to the playoffs. He is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season (San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers during the 1991-92 NBA season ). He is 1,275–965 in his career. He is also the only coach in history to win both an NCAA National Championship (University of Kansas, 1988) and an NBA Championship (Detroit Pistons, 2004).

Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 27, 2002 and is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, although he has developed a reputation for constantly looking for better coaching opportunities and frequently switching teams or programs before the expiration of his contract.

Player
Brown is Jewish, and was born in Brooklyn, New York. A 5 ft point guard, he attended Long Beach High School and then played at the University of North Carolina under legendary coaches Frank McGuire and Dean Smith. A stellar player for the Tar Heels in the early 1960s, Brown was considered too small to play in the NBA and so began his professional career with the NABL's Akron Wingfoots, where he played for two years (1964–65). During that time Brown was selected for the 1964 Summer Olympics team, on which he played and with which he won a gold medal, while also leading the Wingfoots to the 1964 AAU National Championship.

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 2,509 assists places him seventh on the ABA's career list, and he holds the ABA record for assists in a game with 23.

As a 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. Brown moved on to the ABA and coached with the Carolina Cougars and then the Denver Nuggets, who later joined the NBA in 1976, for five and a half seasons from 1974 to 1979. He then moved on to coach for UCLA (1979–1981), leading his freshman-dominated 1979–80 team to the NCAA title game before falling to Louisville, 59–54. However, that appearance was later vacated by the NCAA after two players were found to be ineligible—one of the few times a Final Four squad has had its record vacated. Brown was the head coach for the NBA's New Jersey Nets for two years following that, from 1981 to 1983.

University of Kansas 1983-1988
Brown began his tenure at the University of Kansas (1983–1988). There he was named "Coach of the Year" for the NCAA in 1988 and "Coach of the Year" for the Big Eight Conference 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 streak in Allen Fieldhouse. Ultimately, behind the high-scoring of Danny Manning, KU finished 27–11 and won 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, for a potential transfer who did not end up transferring to the program, that took place during Brown's tenure. Among the sanctions, Kansas was banned from the 1989 NCAA Tournament—the only time a reigning champion has been banned from defending its title. Kansas had suffered back-to-back losing seasons in 1982 and 1983 under former coach Ted Owens before Brown brought the Jayhawks back into the national spotlight.

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 (where he won the NBA coach of the year award), Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, and the Charlotte Bobcats.

Detroit Pistons 2003-2005
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 is also the only NBA coach to take two different teams (76ers and Pistons) to the NBA Finals against the same opponent (Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 and 2004), lose the first time, and win the second.

Brown was also chosen as the head coach for the USA men's basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics which earned a bronze medal, a major disappointment. Brown was heavily criticized for publicly berating the players, for repeatedly criticizing the roster chosen by the player selection committee, and for insisting on a style of play which minimized the United States' advantage in athleticism.

Brown has also drawn criticism 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.

New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs
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 well known for turning losers into winners. 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. Two of those three playoff appearances, in 1992 and 1993, were 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. The Spurs had been an NBA power for most of the 1980s, but faltered for several years after the departure of George Gervin before crashing to the worst record in the league in 1988–89, Brown's first season. In his second season, however, the Spurs made the biggest single-season improvement in NBA history at the time, leaping all the way to a division title. The Pacers had been an also-ran for most of the time since coming from the ABA, with only three winning seasons in their first 18 years in the league. However, Brown led them to their first two finishes better than two games over .500, as well as their first division title as an NBA team.

In 2005, Allen Iverson, who frequently clashed with Brown in Philadelphia, said that he 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. He is also known for being hard on his point guards.

On January 13, 2006, the 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.

Brown's tenure as Knicks head coach lasted one season, as the team fired him on June 23, 2006 after he led the team to a disastrous 23–59 record. Brown's season with the Knicks was marred with public feuds with his own players, most notably point guard Stephon Marbury.

On April 29, 2008, Brown signed to become the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats – his ninth NBA coaching job. He managed to keep the relatively young team in playoff contention. The following season, Brown guided the Bobcats to the franchise's first-ever playoff appearance. Charlotte was the 8th different team he led to the postseason, an NBA record. On December 22, 2010, Brown parted ways with the Bobcats after the team went 9–19. His departure was officially characterized as a resignation, but other sources reported that Brown was fired. Assistant coach Jeff Capel II told The Charlotte Observer that the entire coaching staff had been fired.

Brown's name has been mentioned on two occasions for the coaching job at his alma mater—in 2000 when Bill Guthridge stepped down and in 2003 when Matt Doherty was forced out.

On April 17, 2012, ESPN reported that Brown was being named the new head coach of the SMU Mustangs, replacing the aforementioned Matt Doherty, who had been fired from SMU earlier in March. Tim Jankovich, the head coach of Illinois State, was hired as the coach-in-waiting.

Coaching tree
Brown's multiple professional and collegiate coaching and playing stops have deeply intertwined him in the Kansas/UNC coaching trees. Brown's college basketball coach when he played at UNC, Dean Smith, was a player under legendary Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen, who in turn was coached at Kansas by James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.

Larry Brown then became head coach of Kansas himself and upon his departure was replaced by UNC alum Roy Williams, who later returned to coach at UNC. Current Kansas head coach Bill Self served as a graduate assistant under Brown at KU during the 1985–86 season which saw Kansas set a then-record for wins in a single season and the Jayhawks snapped a 12-year final four drought.

Also, current University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari was an assistant under Brown at Kansas. Former Kansas players Mark Turgeon and Tad Boyle, coaches of the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Colorado at Boulder respectively, played for Brown at Kansas.

Danny Manning, who played for Brown at Kansas from 1984 to 1988, served as the Jayhawks' assistant coach under Self from 2007 to 2012 and is now the head coach at the University of Tulsa. Kevin Pritchard, the starting point guard on Kansas' 1988 NCAA Division I men's championship team with Manning and Brown, was coach/general manager of the ABA's Kansas City Knights as well as interim coach/general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers. He is the current director of player personnel with the Indiana Pacers.

Gregg Popovich also served as an assistant to Brown.

Achievements

 * 1973 Carolina Cougars: ABA Eastern Division regular season champions
 * 1975 Denver Nuggets: ABA Western Division regular season champions
 * 1976 Denver Nuggets: ABA regular season champions (single-division)
 * 1977 Denver Nuggets: NBA Midwest Division Champions
 * 1978 Denver Nuggets: NBA Midwest Division Champions
 * 1980 UCLA: NCAA Championship Game
 * 1984 Kansas: Big Eight Conference Tournament Champions
 * 1986 Kansas: NCAA Final Four & Big Eight Conference & Tournament Champions
 * 1988 Kansas: NCAA National Champions
 * 1990 San Antonio Spurs: NBA Midwest Division Champions
 * 1991 San Antonio Spurs: NBA Midwest Division Champions
 * 1995 Indiana Pacers: NBA Central Division Champions
 * 2001 Philadelphia 76ers: NBA Eastern Conference Champions
 * 2004 Detroit Pistons: NBA Champions
 * 2005 Detroit Pistons: NBA Eastern Conference Champions


 * College: 1 National Championship, 3 Final Fours in 7 seasons
 * Pro: 1 Championship, 3 Conference Championships, 10 Division Championships, 18 Playoff appearances in 26 seasons
 * 1,098 career NBA wins