Written by Scott Sargent
Considered to be too small for the NBA, Larry Brown’s career with basketball stems from his ability to simply produce winning teams from the coach’s chair. However, he was a member of the 1964 gold medal winning United States team as a player. As a manager on the sidelines, before being selected as the head coach for the 2004 Olympic basketball team, Brown coached the New Jersey Nets for two seasons before being named the “Coach of the Year” with the Kansas Jayhawks men’s program – winning the national championship in 1988.
Taking his winning ways back to the NBA, Brown was much traveled after being a part of the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers , Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, and the New York Knicks.
Brown won the NBA Championship with the Pistons in 2004, thus becoming the first man to coach both levels to title victories. Unfortunately, his coaching in the 2004 Olympics only produced a bronze medal – considered a vast underachievement. Currently, Brown is one of four men to have over 1,000 wins as an NBA coach and is a member of the Philadelphia 76ers front office where he continues to manage the team’s basketball operations department.
