- Philadelphia 76ers fired head coach Brett Brown last night.
- Poor results, and inability to create a title candidate despite all the resources invested led to this action.
- Tyronn Lue and Jay Wright are the top favorites for taking over Philly.
Brown Gone from 76ers After Seven Seasons
After a disappointing elimination from the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers decided to fire head coach Brett Brown. The news broke out last night, and shortly after 76ers’ general manager Elton Brand issued a statement.
“Unfortunately, we fell well short of our goals this year and I believe it is best to go in a new direction. This will be an important offseason for us as we look to get back on track towards our goal of competing for an NBA championship.”
Boston Celtics swept Philadelphia in the series, which was considered as a humiliation, especially because of their rivalry with the team from TD Garden. Even though Ben Simmons couldn’t play due to his season-ending knee injury, this time, no excuse could save Brown from losing his job.
The Australian came to 76ers seven years ago, as the person who was supposed to make the team worthy of attacking the title. The first three years of his stay were arguably the worst in the history of this franchise. Philly was tanking each season in order to have top picks in the draft, so they recorded 37 wins combined during that time.
Following this period, they established themselves as the rising force in the East, reaching the conference semifinals in back-to-back seasons. Last year they suffered an elimination against the Toronto Raptors, who later became champions. It was a seven-game drama which ended with Kawhi Leonard hitting that rim-bouncing jumper, which secured the Raptors Game 7.
The 76ers have several high-profile players on the roster, who are pretty expensive, and after previous playoffs, the next goal was to attack the title, or at least reach the conference playoffs. However, that didn’t happen, which is why Brown had to go.
“In 2013, I was employed to lead one of the most dramatic rebuilds in professional sports history. In the past seven years, our players and coaches have evolved and grown, and I have deep appreciation for the 102 players I have coached,” Brown said in his statement.
Lue and Wright as the Potential Successors
Right now, two names stand above others when talking about Brown’s replacements. The first one is Tyronn Lue and the second Jay Wright.
According to some of the insiders, Lue has a bit higher chances, because he already has experience in leading an NBA team. And not just that. The former two-time champion as a player won the 2016 title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, making that spectacular comeback against the Golden State Warriors.
On the other side, Wright is the two-time NCAA champion and a two-time Naismith College Coach of the Year. His Villanova Wildcats established as one of the best programs in the recent decade, and he himself, made a lot of NBA players.
