KISSIMMEE, Fla. � The 76ers fired Brett Brown on Monday, the team announced, ending a seven-season stint as one of the faces of the franchise.
Brown, 59, was expected to lead the Sixers to at least the Eastern Conference finals after second-round playoff defeats the last two seasons. This year's Sixers often proclaimed they were "built for the playoffs," but their first-round exit, a sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics, proved that thinking wrong.
So Brown leaves the organization with a 221-344 regular-season record and 12-14 postseason mark.
Following a long stint as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Brown was hired by the Sixers on Aug. 14, 2013. His primary role in his early years with the Sixers, when the team under new general manager Sam Hinkie was blowing up the roster in order to completely rebuild with high draft picks _ "The Process" _ was to develop players. The belief was that someone else would take over the head coaching job once the Sixers started to turn things around.
But when they did, Brown stayed.
The tanking lasted three seasons. Hinkie left in 2016, replaced by Bryan Colangelo. After another transition season when Joel Embiid began to emerge and the Sixers started to show improvement, they won 52 games in 2017-18, including a 16-game win streak to end the season. Boston took out the Sixers in five games in the conference semifinals.
Last season, the 76ers won 51 games and again were knocked out in the conference semis, this time in seven games by the Toronto Raptors when Kawhi Leonard hit a four-bounce shot at the buzzer to seal it.
According to multiple sources, Brown had a hand in breaking that team up because he didn't want to deal with Jimmy Butler, who was the team's closer and who's never afraid to speak his mind. So the Sixers moved on from Butler and brought in Al Horford, and this season was a major letdown.
Part of the problem with the Sixers is a heavy reliance on analytics instead of a feel for the game. They also try to fit players into a certain scheme instead of taking advantage of individual skill sets. That has led to veteran free-agent and/or trade acquisitions of Sergio Rodriguez, Jerryd Bayless, Wilson Chandler, Amir Johnson, Trevor Booker, Butler (in the regular season), and now Horford and Tobias Harris failing to live up to expectations.
The Sixers have become a place where most veterans have had their careers go to die. The Sixers did not hold their marquee players accountable under Brown, and players have complained that their roles have not been defined.
