PHOTOGRAPHS BY
ROB TRINGALI55NBA
PREVIEWSPORT S ILLUS TR ATED- OC T OBER 21–28, 2019
He took them from the bottom to title
contention. Now BRETT BROWN needs to
figure out how to push the very loaded
(and very large) Sixers over the top—or
face getting processed himself
BRETT BROWN is supposed to be on the second level of
the Philadelphia 76ers’ practice facility for a 6 p.m. party,
but it’s 6:35 and he very much is not. A crowd of tall men
mills about, circling a table stocked with cheese and cured
meats. Most of them once played basketball at St. Joseph’s
and have come back to honor former Philadelphia assistant
coach Billy Lange, who is about to start his first season as the
school’s head coach. The Sixers and Brown offered to host
the shindig at their shiny three-year-old complex, a physical
monument to ownership’s complete overhaul of the franchise.
At 6:40, on the balcony overlooking the practice court,
several name-tagged guys in suits sip beers as they watch
someone on the hardwood below. It’s Brown, in a blazer,
jeans and leather shoes, going over drills with two of his
assistant coaches.
“Hey, Brett,” one of the balcony guys calls out.
“Hey,” Brown says, turning and looking up. He has a short
white beard and whitish hair, but there’s a boyish quality
to him. A few years ago, a picture of him playing Ping-Pong
with particularly good form at a team outing went viral. The
Internet thinks he’s a silver fox.
“How’s Dad?” the man asks.Time to
BY CHARLOTTE WILDER