The Philadelphia 76ers head coach wasn’t in a great position in the end stretch of the regular season but this hiatus hurts his job security even more.
Before the NBA had been to suspend play due to coronavirus outbreak, the Philadelphia 76ers were performing below expectation and things weren’t looking good for head coach Brett Brown. While this hiatus might be good for players like Ben Simmons, it’s not good for Brown’s job security.
As things stand, the Sixers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 39-26 record. There are several reasons why the 76ers aren’t performing well. Health is a major factor, the fit of Al Horford next to Joel Embiid and Simmons has also been a big issue for the club. Simmons’ unwillingness to take outside shots also hurts a roster without a lot of high volume shooters.
While I’ve blamed general manager Elton Brand for Philly’s failures and still due, there’s no denying that Brown isn’t without blame. Former Sixers’ small forward Jimmy Butler revealed some flaws of the head coach when the All-Star was a guest on J.J. Redick‘s podcast (warning strong language in the podcast). This was released the same week that the NBA shutdown occurred and I recently wrote about several takeaways from that podcast.
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That information from Redick’s podcast will stick around for a while and fester as Brown can’t coach the team to any wins to help forget this interview among former teammates. It also doesn’t help that the team as a whole has underperformed this year. It’s not a good look and with no games in the near future, it won’t go away anytime soon.
Obviously, Brown still has a chance to keep his job assuming the game resume at some point down the road, working under the assumption that everyone is healthy. If he can lead the 76ers to a deep playoff run or potentially a championship then the questions about his job security will blow over.
With this long break from game action, the Philadelphia 76ers organization will take a long look at Brown’s tenure as head coach without actively winning games being a factor. This break might cost him his job if he can’t rally the troops for a deep playoff push.
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