The Sixer Sense
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Brett Brown Is A Quality Coach, Here To Stay

By Josh Wilson

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Some coaches would be fired almost instantly after winning only 37 games in his first two seasons. Not the Philadelphia 76ers’ head coach Brett Brown. There’s a few reasons why he’s around still, but most notably includes his relationship and likability with players, and the current plan of the Sixers.

Among the reasons he hasn’t been fired–and probably won’t be–the main reason is that there’s a “process” (do you trust it?) currently taking place. It’s a rebuilding phase where the team knows the quality of players can’t quite yet match up to the better teams in the NBA, so they weren’t expecting to win many games anyway. The losses aren’t surprising, and most importantly, it’s not Brown’s fault, it’s the processes fault, that has them destined to go through a few losing seasons (hopefully with a large payoff of winning seasons somewhere down the road).

Now, a couple years from now, these players should be developing and turning into quality basketball players, especially under the leadership that Brown offers. So if they aren’t winning games in three or four years, there’s definitely a chance Brown will be hearing his job is at stake, but for now, losing is not an issue.

The best thing about Brown is that he seems to be a player’s type of coach. Generally, Brown is incredibly likable, especially by the big name players on the team like Nerlens Noel.

A huge reason for this could be because he’s always encouraging his players and seeing the best in them, rather than the bad he could choose to see. Joel Embiid is missing his second straight season. Fans mostly see the bad here, and are no longer high on the infatuation of Embiid and what he may someday mean to the team.

Brown chooses to still speak highly of Embiid, despite his injury setback, and still sounds excited to have him as a part of the Sixers team.

To me, this is the difference between a coach that just runs practices and draws up plays. Brown clearly has a relationship with each and every one of his players, and a strong one at that. This is important when developing a team, and is what sets the great coaches apart from the mediocre ones.

As a Sixers fan, you have the opportunity to doubt a lot of things. You can doubt general manager Sam Hinkie and his seemingly crazy transactions, you can doubt the track that the overall team is heading on, and you can even doubt a lot of the roster and whether or not they will truly be good players someday. But one thing you shouldn’t doubt is the Sixers head coach. He’s likable, he’s fun to listen to, and he’s got a passion for what he does. He cares about his players, and is in it for the long run with this team, win or lose. There’s something really respectable about a guy who can still get excited every day for his job, even if the outcome is still a lot of losing.

I trust Brett Brown, do you?

Next: Joel Embiid No Longer A Fan Favorite?

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