One wonders if that Larry Brown-Allen Iverson scene last week was merely a Brown exit strategy. After all, it was Brown who broke up the Eastern champion Philadelphia 76ers. He’d pieced together the only kind of team that can win with Iverson: dedicated, defensive-oriented role players who could stop the other team to offset Iverson’s often miserable shooting.
Once Brown starts changing players, his teams usually never recover. And Denver, where he finished his pro career as a player and had his greatest success as a coach with consecutive 60-win seasons, has been moving slowly in its coaching search. Waiting for Larry?
The Nuggets would have to receive permission from the Sixers to speak with Brown, and another dispute with Iverson might hasten that. Brown has a contract through the 2004-05 season reportedly worth more than $6 million per year. Philadelphia would likely ask for compensation, unless, of course, he and the star player can’t get along.
“There are a lot of obstacles,” Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said about dealing with potential candidates under contract. Vandeweghe, by the way, played for Brown at UCLA and with the Clippers.
Asked about Denver, Brown said: “It was a great experience for me. I was with people I enjoyed. It was as good as it got for me. Living in that community was very special. I was fortunate enough to be with some pretty good teams.”
Brown said he still hopes to retire in Boulder, Colo., outside of Denver. He also said he had two high school coaching offers this season he seriously considered. Sure.
If Denver can’t get a big name like Brown, they’ll probably go for Clyde Drexler, now an assistant. Said Vandeweghe: “Guys of his stature typically come in as head coaches.”
