{"id":32420,"date":"2025-02-10T08:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T08:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=32420"},"modified":"2025-02-10T09:25:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T09:25:13","slug":"hubie-brown-91-feted-during-his-final-nba-broadcast-after-a-half-century-in-pro-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=32420","title":{"rendered":"Hubie Brown, 91, feted during his final NBA broadcast after a half century in pro basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n

\"Brown<\/p>\n

Hubie Brown received tributes from across the NBA community as the former coach and longtime <\/span><\/p>\n

broadcaster headed <\/span>into retirement after spending more than half a century in pro basketball.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 91-year-old Brown called his final game Sunday as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia <\/span><\/p>\n

76ers, 135-127. He was awarded the game ball after the final horn sounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have so many things to be thankful for, but my family and I can never thank everyone enough,\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Brown said at the end of the telecast. \u201dWe just want to send them the love that I\u2019ve seen today right back with a <\/span><\/p>\n

big hug. It was a fantastic ride.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Players from both teams approached him before the game to shake his hand. He received a standing<\/p>\n

ovation during the opening timeout as a video honoring him aired on the Fiserv Forum scoreboard.<\/p>\n

Brown responded by blowing kisses to the crowd and mouthing, \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

<\/main><\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Brown indicated he almost cried as that video aired.<\/p>\n

He considered it fitting that he was in Milwaukee for his final game as a broadcaster. His first NBA coaching job was as an assistant with the Bucks on Larry Costello\u2019s staff, a two-season stint that began in 1972.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came here to the Milwaukee Bucks and Larry Costello, I received a master\u2019s degree and a doctorate\u2019s degree in basketball in two years,\u201d Brown said at the start of Sunday\u2019s telecast.<\/p>\n

That launched an illustrious career on the bench and behind a microphone.<\/p>\n

Brown coached 15 seasons with the ABA\u2019s Kentucky Colonels (1974-76) and NBA\u2019s Atlanta Hawks (1976-81), New York Knicks (1982-87), and Memphis Grizzlies (2002-05). He won an ABA title with Kentucky in 1975 and was voted the NBA Coach of the Year in 1978 and 2004.<\/p>\n

He spent 35 years as a national TV and radio analyst, covering 18 NBA Finals. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s seen so much growth and so much change not only in the game of basketball but in the league,\u201d Bucks guard Damian Lillard said after the game. \u201dIt\u2019s come so far in a lot of ways, and I think that obviously you\u2019re going to have the commissioners and you\u2019re going to have players come along, but I think it\u2019s the people who love on the game and love the league and the contributions that come from people like Hubie Brown is what has allowed it to become what it is, is what makes it special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Breen, the play-by-play broadcaster for Sunday\u2019s game, called it the \u201cultimate honor\u201d to have Brown as a colleague. Breen spoke for other play-by-play broadcasters who worked alongside Brown by saying \u201cyou\u2019ve been like a father to many of us, our NBA father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCould we pause, as I have a tear here,\u201d Brown replied.<\/p>\n

ABC started its Sunday telecast by showing footage of Brown\u2019s very first NBA broadcast, a 1981 game airing on USA Network. NBC\u2019s Mike Tirico, Brown\u2019s former broadcast partner, joined the telecast remotely to pay his respects late in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

During breaks in the telecast, ABC showed highlights from Brown\u2019s coaching and broadcasting career along with testimonials from various NBA figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou brought so much passion to every telecast,\u201d NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said during one of those breaks. \u201cYou took great joy in teaching the finer points of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse presented Brown with a tiny replica of the Liberty Bell in the green room before the game. Bucks assistants wore a T-shirt with the message, \u201cThank You Hubie,\u201d and a heart during pregame warmups.<\/p>\n

Bucks coach Doc Rivers said before the game that Brown remains one of the former coaches he often seeks out for advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was one of my first calls all the time and still is when things are rough or I\u2019m trying to figure out something to me that\u2019s complicated,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n

Rivers said he often sought Brown\u2019s counsel in those situations because he figured there wasn\u2019t any kind of situation that the longtime coach and broadcaster hadn\u2019t encountered at some point in over a half-century in professional basketball.<\/p>\n

Bucks veteran center Brook Lopez made sure to talk to Brown before the game and say how much the former coach and broadcaster had meant to the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was one of my real first, real cool, \u2018welcome to the league\u2019 experiences, was having him call one of my games and to see him in person, get to meet him, hearing he was a fan of me and my game, appreciated my game,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cHe\u2019s always had good tips for me. He\u2019s still coaching, even though he\u2019s commentating. It\u2019s in his DNA and in his blood, trying to help players get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Bucks prepared for Sunday\u2019s game, Rivers asked the youngest players on the roster what they knew about Brown. When they weren\u2019t aware of Brown\u2019s accomplishments, Rivers got Lopez to offer a primer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave a very impressive history run on Hubie and even knew the reason his last game was in Milwaukee is because this is where it all started, with him and Larry Costello,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n

Brown said that\u2019s what made it so appropriate to finish his career in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me to end it here is very meaningful because I learned so much here,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

\n

Are the Celtics ready to flip the switch?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hall of Famer coached 15 seasons across the ABA and NBA, and spent 35 years as a national TV and radio analyst, covering 18 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nHubie Brown, 91, feted during his final NBA broadcast after a half century in pro basketball - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=32420\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hubie Brown, 91, feted during his final NBA broadcast after a half century in pro basketball - 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