Opening Bid in Brown’s Future?

Larry Brown’s travels continue.

Where he will land next is anyone’s guess. He quit Monday as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and said the team released him from the final two seasons of his contract, leaving him free to pursue job openings with the Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets, among others.

Brown, 62, did not speak about his future Monday except to say, “A lot of jobs are open, but I just left a great one. I’m going to sit back, try to get with my family and figure out what’s best for everybody.”

A call to the Clippers was not immediately returned. Brown rallied the Clippers to their last winning record, a 45-37 mark in 1991-92, going 23-12 after replacing interim coach Mack Calvin, who had replaced Mike Schuler. The Clippers were 41-41 with Brown the next season.

The Clippers have had only preliminary discussions about hiring a replacement for Alvin Gentry, who was fired March 3 with the team in last place in the Pacific Division with a 19-39 record. As of last week, the team had not made a decision on whether to retain interim coach Dennis Johnson.

LeBron James, the Ohio high school sensation who is expected to go to the Cavaliers as the top pick in the NBA draft June 26, gave Brown a hearty endorsement when asked about the possibility of playing for him next season.

“I think Larry Brown is a great teacher if we can get him,” James said during an TV interview at halftime of the San Antonio-Dallas playoff game Sunday.

Houston is another possible destination for Brown after Rudy Tomjanovich resigned as Rocket coach last week.

Brown spent six seasons with the 76ers, his longest tenure with one team during his 31-year coaching career. Philadelphia made the playoffs the last five seasons and reached the NBA Finals in 2001, losing to the Lakers in five games.

He will coach the U.S. men’s team this summer at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.

“We had a good run,” Brown said in announcing his resignation. “I think it’s time to get somebody else in here to maybe give a fresh look. I didn’t want to hold this franchise back and I felt by staying here, I’d do that.”

He had hinted for some time that this would be his final season in Philadelphia, the strain of coaching Allen Iverson growing ever more difficult. The two had a stormy relationship, but often worked through their problems.

Iverson was almost traded to the Detroit Pistons at one point. Another time, Brown had to be talked out of quitting by former owner Pat Croce and General Manager Billy King.

Brown considered returning to the college ranks to coach his alma mater, North Carolina, when the Tar Heels were looking for a replacement for Matt Doherty (they hired Kansas’ Roy Williams). Brown led UCLA to the NCAA championship game in 1980 and won the title with Kansas in 1988. He became the first NBA coach to guide six teams to the playoffs when the 76ers advanced to the postseason in 1999.

In addition to coaching the 76ers, Brown coached the Denver Nuggets for five seasons, the Indiana Pacers for four, the San Antonio Spurs for 3 1/2, the New Jersey Nets for two and the Clippers for 18 months. He also coached the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Assn. for 18 months.

Brown’s coaching record is 879-685 in the NBA and 1,285-853 overall, including the ABA and college. He is the only American to coach and play for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. He was a three-time All-Star as a player in the ABA.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The Long and Winding Road ...

*--* Quitting after six seasons with Philadelphia (his longest stint as a coach), basketball’s nomadic mastermind will have plenty of work to do as the coach of the U.S. men’s national team this summer at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico. He is the only U.S. male to both play (1964) and coach in the Olympics (2000 as an assistant coach). A look at Brown’s regular-season and playoff win-loss records: Seasons Team Wins Losses Pct Wins Losses Pct 1972-74 CAROLINA (ABA) 104 64 619 7 9 436 * ABA coach of the year in 1972-73 1974-76 DENVER (ABA) 125 43 736 13 13 500 * ABA coach of the year in 1974-75 and 1975-76 1976-79 DENVER (NBA) 126 91 581 8 11 421 * Finished first in division 1976-78 1979-81 UCLA 42 17 712 5 2 714 * Took Bruins to the national championship game in his first year as coach 1981-83 NEW JERSEY 91 67 576 0 2 000 * Resigned April 1983 1983-88 KANSAS 135 44 754 14 4 778 * Led Kansas to the 1988 NCAA championship 1988-91 SAN ANTONIO 153 131 7 7 500 * Led the Spurs to the postseason twice, 1990-91 and 1991-92 1991-93 L.A. CLIPPERS 64 53 547 4 6 400 * Led the Clippers to the postseason twice, 1992-93 and 1993-94 1993-97 INDIANA 190 138 579 22 16 579 * Pacers’ all-time winningest coach, took them to playoffs three times, including East finals twice 1997-02 PHILADELPHIA 255 205 554 28 30 483 * 2000-01 season was one of Brown’s best: NBA coach of year and made trip to Finals ABA totals 2 teams 229 107 677 20 22 476 NCAA totals 2 teams 177 61 744 19 6 760 NBA totals 6 teams 879 685 562 69 72 489 -- ROY JURGENS

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