ducks
09-22-2007, 10:04 AM
Larry Brown almost a Celtic
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...brown.celtics/
Brown almost a Celtic
Hall of Fame coach offered assistant's job in Boston
Posted: Friday September 21, 2007 5:53PM; Updated: Friday September 21, 2007 5:53PM
The Boston Celtics had already traded for Ray Allen and were on the verge of acquiring Kevin Garnett, yet coach Doc Rivers had one more coup in mind. This summer he almost hired Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown to join the Celtics as his lead assistant, SI.com has learned.
"The way we left it, I told Doc I was 90 percent sure I was coming," says Brown. But Brown changed his mind after discussing the Boston offer with 76ers owner Ed Snider, who convinced Brown to remain as executive VP in charge of basketball.
A league source confirms that Boston had offered Brown the job as an assistant to Rivers, who has two fully-guaranteed years remaining on his contract with the Celtics. At the time Rivers was telling other prospective assistants that he was on the verge of hiring a mystery candidate whose name he couldn't divulge.
When Brown said no to Rivers in July -- shortly before the blockbuster trade that delivered Garnett to Boston -- the Celtics filled the position by signing Tom Thibodeaux, the highly-regarded longtime assistant to Jeff Van Gundy.
Coming off the Celtics' 24-win season, it says something about Rivers' self-assurance that he was willing to hire Thibodeaux, who is seen as a future head coach in the NBA, as well as Brown, who has been nothing but a head coach during his 23-year professional career.
"I would have loved it," says Brown, who coached Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers in 1991-92. "I'm really close to Doc and I have lot of respect for him. I thought that would be a great opportunity. I miss the coaching and teaching, not so much the games.
"He just felt that he wanted me there to help. If you look at our league now, it is about young kids and teaching young kids. That's just the way our league has changed."
The courtship also demonstrates how desperate Brown is to return to coaching after being fired for his 23-win season with the Knicks in '05-06.
"I think I have a lot to offer," says Brown, 67. "I had the one terrible year. You don't want it to end like that. If you look at the body of work, I love coaching and that's the only thing I know how to do. At this time of my life I'm not ready to retire."
Brown emphasized that he doesn't necessarily have to come back as a head coach. He also considered offers to be an assistant outside the NBA. "I had heard from a bunch of colleges in that capacity as well, and I thought about it," he says.
But his meetings with Snider and 76ers president Billy King convinced Brown to stay in Philadelphia, where he and wife Shelly are raising their young family. "Mr. Snider hired me a long time ago and was phenomenal to me, and he asked me to come back," said Brown. "I owed it to him to do that."
It was surprising to hear that Snider wanted to retain Brown in spite of rumors that the 76ers are back on the market for sale. "I don't know," says Brown of those rumors. "Mr. Snider told me you never stop exploring the possibilities. But I think he really had a lot of fun last year at the end of the season. He's become, in my mind, a lot more involved than he was when I initially worked for him (in 1997-98). But I wouldn't be surprised. If the right price were to come along, I'm sure every team would be up for sale."
While he remains protective of his relationship with Snider, Brown clearly would like to find a way to get back on the court and help develop the 76ers' young talent. But he also knows that any working relationship with the players would create suspicion that he's lining up to replace head coach Maurice Cheeks.
"I just want to help here," Brown says. "I just want to see us get back to where it was. I told Billy I just want to be there to help in any capacity that I can. Until we made that trade the other day getting [veterans Reggie] Evans and [Calvin] Booth, we were like a college team. So I want to help without stepping on anybody's toes.
"Ultimately my goal is to try to get back and coach somewhere -- and I'm not looking at Philly. I want to see Mo succeed."
That's why, as Brown points out, "I didn't go to a practice last year. I really stayed away." So could he serve in a teaching capacity with Philadelphia without undermining Cheeks?
"I see myself having that ability. I just don't know if that's going to be a reality," says Brown. "I've talked to Mo a number of times -- even last year -- that I was there to help. But we'll see how things evolve.
"In Philly I want to do whatever I can to make our whole organization better. I just want to help." His next words without any prompting were these: "I miss practice terribly and miss being around the players terribly."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/09/21/brown.celtics/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...brown.celtics/
Brown almost a Celtic
Hall of Fame coach offered assistant's job in Boston
Posted: Friday September 21, 2007 5:53PM; Updated: Friday September 21, 2007 5:53PM
The Boston Celtics had already traded for Ray Allen and were on the verge of acquiring Kevin Garnett, yet coach Doc Rivers had one more coup in mind. This summer he almost hired Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown to join the Celtics as his lead assistant, SI.com has learned.
"The way we left it, I told Doc I was 90 percent sure I was coming," says Brown. But Brown changed his mind after discussing the Boston offer with 76ers owner Ed Snider, who convinced Brown to remain as executive VP in charge of basketball.
A league source confirms that Boston had offered Brown the job as an assistant to Rivers, who has two fully-guaranteed years remaining on his contract with the Celtics. At the time Rivers was telling other prospective assistants that he was on the verge of hiring a mystery candidate whose name he couldn't divulge.
When Brown said no to Rivers in July -- shortly before the blockbuster trade that delivered Garnett to Boston -- the Celtics filled the position by signing Tom Thibodeaux, the highly-regarded longtime assistant to Jeff Van Gundy.
Coming off the Celtics' 24-win season, it says something about Rivers' self-assurance that he was willing to hire Thibodeaux, who is seen as a future head coach in the NBA, as well as Brown, who has been nothing but a head coach during his 23-year professional career.
"I would have loved it," says Brown, who coached Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers in 1991-92. "I'm really close to Doc and I have lot of respect for him. I thought that would be a great opportunity. I miss the coaching and teaching, not so much the games.
"He just felt that he wanted me there to help. If you look at our league now, it is about young kids and teaching young kids. That's just the way our league has changed."
The courtship also demonstrates how desperate Brown is to return to coaching after being fired for his 23-win season with the Knicks in '05-06.
"I think I have a lot to offer," says Brown, 67. "I had the one terrible year. You don't want it to end like that. If you look at the body of work, I love coaching and that's the only thing I know how to do. At this time of my life I'm not ready to retire."
Brown emphasized that he doesn't necessarily have to come back as a head coach. He also considered offers to be an assistant outside the NBA. "I had heard from a bunch of colleges in that capacity as well, and I thought about it," he says.
But his meetings with Snider and 76ers president Billy King convinced Brown to stay in Philadelphia, where he and wife Shelly are raising their young family. "Mr. Snider hired me a long time ago and was phenomenal to me, and he asked me to come back," said Brown. "I owed it to him to do that."
It was surprising to hear that Snider wanted to retain Brown in spite of rumors that the 76ers are back on the market for sale. "I don't know," says Brown of those rumors. "Mr. Snider told me you never stop exploring the possibilities. But I think he really had a lot of fun last year at the end of the season. He's become, in my mind, a lot more involved than he was when I initially worked for him (in 1997-98). But I wouldn't be surprised. If the right price were to come along, I'm sure every team would be up for sale."
While he remains protective of his relationship with Snider, Brown clearly would like to find a way to get back on the court and help develop the 76ers' young talent. But he also knows that any working relationship with the players would create suspicion that he's lining up to replace head coach Maurice Cheeks.
"I just want to help here," Brown says. "I just want to see us get back to where it was. I told Billy I just want to be there to help in any capacity that I can. Until we made that trade the other day getting [veterans Reggie] Evans and [Calvin] Booth, we were like a college team. So I want to help without stepping on anybody's toes.
"Ultimately my goal is to try to get back and coach somewhere -- and I'm not looking at Philly. I want to see Mo succeed."
That's why, as Brown points out, "I didn't go to a practice last year. I really stayed away." So could he serve in a teaching capacity with Philadelphia without undermining Cheeks?
"I see myself having that ability. I just don't know if that's going to be a reality," says Brown. "I've talked to Mo a number of times -- even last year -- that I was there to help. But we'll see how things evolve.
"In Philly I want to do whatever I can to make our whole organization better. I just want to help." His next words without any prompting were these: "I miss practice terribly and miss being around the players terribly."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/09/21/brown.celtics/