Cooney: Sixers' Brown eager to build a winning culture
BRETT BROWN was born in New England while the Boston Celtics were in the midst of an unrivaled NBA run, appearing in 10 consecutive NBA Finals and winning nine.
BRETT BROWN was born in New England while the Boston Celtics were in the midst of an unrivaled NBA run, appearing in 10 consecutive NBA Finals and winning nine.
When the 76ers' coach entered Boston University after winning a state title his senior year at South Portland (Maine) High School in 1979, the Celtics again were a dominant team, making five appearances in the Finals over a seven-year run, with three more rings garnered.
After a long coaching stint in Australia, Brown landed on the staff of the San Antonio Spurs and was part of five championship appearances, with four titles, in a span of 12 years.
Still holding to his New England fandom, he has watched with great respect as the Patriots have become the gold standard of the NFL, capturing their fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy since 2002 on Sunday with their improbable win over Atlanta.
Those teams Brown linked himself to were, of course, sprinkled with superstars. Those dominant Celtics teams were heavy with Hall of Famers; the Spurs were built around the likes of David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili; and the Patriots have the best quarterback and coach the game has ever seen.
To Brown, though, the success of those franchises and the way to still win in any professional sport isn't only through superstars. In fact, he believes it's only a small part of the reasoning.
It's why he is so transparent with his players. It's why the insurmountable losing over the previous three seasons hasn't deterred his positive attitude moving forward. It's why he can have the patience of a saint when players who could possibly move this franchise forward more quickly are cautiously kept on the sideline when they are hurt. It's why he was so involved in the ideas and construction of the team's new practice facility in Camden, a place where he envisions players spending hours working on their games, eating with their families, watching movies and shooting pool with teammates. A place where bonds can be formed, where talents can grow and where culture can be established.
Asked how much culture overrides talent, Brown replied: "Ninety percent. The culture allows you to recruit and retain talent. It's not like you're losing key players. People aren't just leaving you. In fact, people go there for less money. I think if you build a base of culture, you're going to attract free agents. You're going to keep free agents. You're going to be able to manage salary caps, because people are willing to stay there for less. (In San Antonio), you look at a coach (Gregg Popovich) that has been there forever. They can live in a home and raise their family.
"Culture is everything. You may trip on something in a fleeting moment and win, but to do what that team does, or the New England Patriots, over a long period of time and annually be among the teams that have a chance to win it, that's the Holy Grail. That, to me, is what it's all about. Culture is such a difficult - most times, impossible - word to truly build, and it's only done through longevity."
Longevity is a luxury few have in sports, whether they are front-office people, coaches or players. Brown hasn't envisioned any of it here with the rotating door of players who have littered his rosters during his time here. He now might have some stabilizing pieces in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric, so now the challenge becomes getting even more players, growing the winning attitude and forming the trust a winning organization has. It is still in the seed-planting stage with the Sixers, but Brown has witnessed a winning culture all his life.
"When you can find consistency with a team, a coaching staff, you grow people, there's corporate knowledge with players coming back, you can build on it, the winks and blinks and nuances," Brown said. "Because what these guys (Spurs) are going to do in the playoffs, from just a corporate knowledge relationship - been there, done that standpoint - you can't even begin to explain. To attain annual success for 18 or 19 years now, they're in the mix of winning championships. They don't go away. They're just there. That's the Holy Grail.
"That's culture, and that's what you just dream about building here. It starts with those ingredients of class human beings and incredibly talented players who play as a team and coexist with everybody just fine."
@BobCooney76
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