Report: Sixers' search down to Curry, Brown
With the recent leaks of potential candidates, the 76ers' coaching search appeared to be wide-open.
However citing coaching insiders, the job will go to Brett Brown or Michael Curry, reports Marc Stein of ESPN reports.
Stein noted that Brown, a San Antonio Spurs assistant, will be the last person interviewed for the job vacated by Doug Collins on April 18.
Around 1:30 a.m. on June 28, general manager Sam Hinkie denied a New York Daily News report that the Sixers had decided to hire Brown just hours earlier on NBA Draft night.
Brown, 52, joined the Spurs in July of 2002 as an assistant coach/director of player development. He moved to the bench as an assistant coach before the start of the 2006-07 season.
The Spurs lost in seven games to the Miami Heat in this season's NBA Finals. However, San Antonio did win three league titles during his tenure with the team.
Prior to the Spurs, he coached 14 seasons - nine as a head coach - in the Australia National Basketball League. Brown led the Aussies to a seventh-place finish in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
He played college basketball for Rick Pitino at Boston University from 1980-83 and was the team's most valuable player in 1981.
Curry spent the past three seasons as Collins' associate head coach. He is under contract for another season.
The 44-year-old conducted the Sixers' predraft workouts before coaching their Orlando Pro Summer League team. Now he is evaluating last week's summer-league performances for training-camp invitations.
Curry has NBA head-coaching experience. He posted a 39-43 record and a first-round playoff exit with the Detroit Pistons in 2008-09. Curry was fired after his only season as a head coach.
The Alabama native, who grew up in Georgia, had an 11-season NBA career. The former guard/forward played for the Sixers, the Washington Bullets, the Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Toronto Raptors and the Indiana Pacers.
Widely respected in the league, the former defensive stopper served as the president of the NBA Players Association for several years.
However, the Sixers reportedly interviewed Boston Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga on Tuesday.
They also received permission to interview Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Ed Pinckney and Adrian Griffin and Atlanta Hawks assistants Quin Snyder and Kenny Atkinson.
Four other NBA assistants - David Fizdale (Miami Heat), Melvin Hunt (Denver Nuggets), Chris Finch (Houston Rockets) and Kelvin Sampson (Houston Rockets) - have been mentioned as candidates.
Contact Inquirer Sixers beat writer Keith Pompey at kpompey@phillynews.com. Follow @PompeyOnSixers on Twitter.