Brett Brown

Brett Brown
Born	Brett William Brown (1961-02-16) February 16, 1961 Maine, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball coach
Years active	1988–present
Known for	Head coach of Philadelphia 76ers; assistant coach for San Antonio Spurs; NBL Coach of the Year (1994)

Brett William Brown (born February 16, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach currently positioned as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A former collegiate athlete, Brown served as head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2013 through 2020. Before that tenure, he gained experience as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich with the Spurs. Brown also boasts extensive coaching credentials in Australia, having led the North Melbourne Giants and Sydney Kings within the NBL.

High school

Originating from Maine, Brown started organized basketball in Rockland before transferring to South Portland High School. There, he distinguished himself as a guard and completed his studies in 1979. He was honored with first-team all-state selections in both 1978 and 1979 and captained his team to an undefeated 27–0 season culminating in a State Class A Championship during his senior year. Both Brett and his father, Bob Brown—who coached South Portland during Brett’s playing days—are inductees of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Collegiate career

Brown competed for four years at Boston University under head coach Rick Pitino, where he earned the Lou Cohen MVP award as a sophomore and held the role of team captain during his junior and senior seasons. In his final year, 1983, the Boston Terriers reached their first NCAA Tournament since 1959. By the time he graduated, Brown ranked fourth all-time in assists at the university. Subsequently, he served as a graduate assistant to coach John Kuester and briefly worked in sales at AT&T, which financed a backpacking journey across Oceania in 1987.

NBL

In 1988, following a coaching stint in New Zealand with the Altos Auckland, Brown proactively contacted Melbourne Tigers head coach Lindsay Gaze by phone and secured an assistant coaching position, spending four seasons with the Australian NBL franchise.

Brown’s initial senior head coaching appointment came in 1992 when he led the Bulleen Boomers of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL), mentoring future professional Drederick Irving.

The following year, Brown assumed head coaching duties for the North Melbourne Giants, earning the prestigious NBL Coach of the Year honor in 1994 after guiding the Giants to a championship victory over the Adelaide 36ers. He held this role until 1998 before transitioning to the San Antonio Spurs. Later, Brown coached the Sydney Kings from 2000 until 2002. Across 278 NBL games as a head coach, he maintained a winning percentage of 54%.

San Antonio Spurs

After participating in a basketball camp co-led by Brown and Andrew Gaze, Spurs general manager R. C. Buford brought Brown on board as an unpaid contributor to the Spurs’ basketball operations during the lockout-shortened 1998–99 NBA season. Following his coaching period with the Sydney Kings, Brown returned to San Antonio in 2002 as director of player development. Buford acknowledged Brown’s focus on nurturing lesser-known talent, which helped establish a robust and versatile bench—a strategy that continued to benefit the Spurs beyond Brown’s tenure in that capacity. In September 2007, he was elevated to assistant coach under head coach Gregg Popovich, who referred to Brown as "one of his closest friends." Embracing many of Popovich’s tactical philosophies, Brown integrated these into his offensive schemes and played an instrumental role in recruiting Australian guard Patty Mills. During his time with San Antonio, Brown contributed to four Spurs' championship victories.

Philadelphia 76ers

During the 2013 NBA off-season, Brown turned down an opportunity to serve as the lead assistant coach under Gregg Popovich. Instead, he accepted the head coaching position with the rebuilding Philadelphia 76ers, led by newly appointed general manager Sam Hinkie. The Sixers secured Brown on a guaranteed four-year deal, marking him as the 24th head coach in franchise history and only the second individual to have coached in both the NBL and NBA. In his inaugural season, Philadelphia fielded the youngest roster in the league and endured a 26-game losing streak, tying an NBA record. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams earned the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2014, attributing much of his growth to Brown's guidance.

Brown extended his contract with Philadelphia on December 11, 2015, and again on May 31, 2018, following the team's first playoff appearance since 2012. After Bryan Colangelo resigned amid a social media controversy on June 7, 2018, Brown assumed the role of interim general manager. He managed several trades and acquisitions before former player Elton Brand was appointed GM on September 20, 2018. Among these moves was trading hometown player and two-time NCAA champion Mikal Bridges to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Zhaire Smith and a future first-round draft pick. Brown also brought in players such as Shake Milton, Norvel Pelle, and Anthony Brown, while securing veteran contracts for JJ Redick, Amir Johnson, and Demetrius Jackson.

Following a first-round playoff sweep by the Boston Celtics during the 2020 NBA playoffs, Brown was dismissed by the Sixers on August 24, 2020.

Return to San Antonio

On June 30, 2022, Brown returned to the San Antonio Spurs organization as an assistant coach.

National team career

Brown held an assistant coaching position with the Australia national team from 1995 through 2003, participating in events such as the 1998 FIBA World Championship and both the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. He later served as head coach from 2009 until 2012, guiding Australia to a tenth-place finish at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and advancing to the quarterfinals at the 2012 Olympics, where they were eliminated by eventual champions, the United States.

On November 27, 2019, Brown resumed his role as head coach, succeeding Andrej Lemanis, with intentions to lead Australia at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. However, he resigned on October 13, 2020, citing uncertainties regarding his professional future after parting ways with Philadelphia and complications related to COVID-19 travel restrictions. His second tenure concluded without coaching a single game.

NBA

|- | align="left" |Philadelphia | align="left" | | 82||19||63||||align="center" |5th in Atlantic||—||—||—||—|| align="center" |Missed playoffs |- | align="left" |Philadelphia | align="left" | | 82||18||64||||align="center" |4th in Atlantic||—||—||—||—|| align="center" |Missed playoffs |- | align="left" |Philadelphia | align="left" | | 82||10||72||||align="center" |5th in Atlantic||—||—||—||—|| align="center" |Missed playoffs |- | align="left" |Philadelphia | align="left" | | 82||28||54||||align="center" |4th in Atlantic||—||—||—||—|| align="center" |Missed playoffs |- | align="left" |Philadelphia | align="left" | | 82||52||30||||align="center" |3rd in Atlantic||10||5||5|||| align="center" |Lost in conference semifinals |- | align="left" |Philadelphia | align="left" | | 82||51||31||||align="center" |2nd in Atlantic||12||7||5|||| align="center" |Lost in conference semifinals |- | align="left" |Philadelphia | 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 | align="left" |1993 | 29||14||15||||align="center" |8th || 3 || 1 || 2 || || Eliminated in quarter-finals |- | align="left" |North Melbourne | align="left" |1994 | 33||25||8|| ||align="center" |1st || 7 || 6 || 1 || || Secured NBL Finals title |- | align="left" |North Melbourne | align="left" |1995 | 34||23||11 || ||align="center" |2nd || 8 || 5 || 3 || || Runner-up in NBL Finals |- | align="left" |North Melbourne | align="left" |1996 | 28 ||15 ||13 || ||align="center" |7th || 2 || 0 || 2 || || Exited in quarter-finals |- |- align="left"|North Melbourne |- align= "left"|1997 NBL season |-29 |-20 |-15 |- |-align=center|"3rd"| - |-5 |-2 |-3 |- |- Eliminated in semi-finals |- |-29 |-9 |-21 |- |-align=center|"11th"| - |- - |- - |- - |- Did not qualify for playoffs |- |-align=center colspan=2|"North Melbourne cumulative" |-189 |-106 |-83 |- |- - |-25 |-14 |-11 |- |-align=center|"1 NBL championship" |- |-align= "left"|Sydney Kings |-align= "left"|2000–01 NBL season |-31 |-18 |-13 |- |-align=center|"5th"| - |-3 |-1 |-2 |- |- Quarter-final exit |- |-align= "left"|Sydney Kings |-align= "left"|2001–02 NBL season |-30 |-14 |-16 |- |-align=center|"7th"| - |- - |- - |- - |- Missed postseason |- |-align=center colspan=2|"Sydney aggregate" |-61 |-32 |-29 |- |- - |-3 |-1 |-2 |- |-align=center|"–" | |- |-align=center colspan=2|"Overall total" |-250 |-138 |-112 |- |> -25% >-28% >-15% >-13% >- "1 NBL championship" |

Personal life

Brown met his wife, Anna, while in Australia, and they later married. Together, they have two daughters named Julia and Laura, along with a son, Sam. The family currently lives in San Antonio, Texas.