If there has been anyone who could have come close to rivaling John Elway’s status as sports royalty in Denver, it would be Larry Brown. While they excelled in different sports and at different times, Elway and Brown were the sports icons of their day.
Brown was the Prince of Denver in the 1970s. He played for the Rockets in the American Basketball Association and then, as the young, spirited coach of the Nuggets, he was the focal point in the progression of Denver basketball into the NBA.
For the 1976-77 season, Denver was heralded as a new member of the old guard, the established NBA. Gone were the ABA and its red, white and blue basketball. Brown remained coach of the Nuggets into the 1978-79 season, the tracings of his story appearing on the sports pages as well as the society pages.
“Denver was pretty special for me,” Brown said as he looked back some 30 years from his new office as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. “Not only did we have good teams, but we also had unbelievable fan interest. I lived in Boulder a couple of years, and that was great. Some of the players we had and how special they were made it a phenomenal experience for me.
“We didn’t have to wear (sports) jackets during the games in those days. I figured I was going to work, so I might as well wear denims.”
Brown’s time in Denver was an exciting period in the city’s basketball evolution. The games moved from the Denver Coliseum and Auditorium Arena to the new McNichols Sports Arena.
With Brown at the helm, the Nuggets of the ABA were division champions in the 1974-75 season and regular-season champions in 1975-76. In the NBA, Brown coached the Nuggets to division titles in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons.
“When Larry was here, we were on top of the basketball world,” said Bob King, executive vice president of the Denver franchise in those days. “He was a big man about town, and he could coach. He was a great game coach and his players were prepared.”
Brown guided many of the who’s who in Denver’s basketball yearbooks. Those were the days of David Thompson, Dan Issel, Ralph Simpson and Bobby Jones.
While in Denver, Brown began a coaching association with Doug Moe and Donnie Walsh and a competitive, but rewarding association with Nuggets boss Carl Scheer.
“David Thompson was the finest young player I had ever seen when he came to Denver in 1975,” Brown said. “He was Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan.”
During his time in Denver, Brown also began a series of moves that led to him being considered a basketball nomad. He always considered his coaching to be teaching, and he showed signs of losing patience when his team faltered. After a disappointing season, Brown indicated he wanted to back up a truck to McNichols Sports Arena and ship out all the players.
From Denver, Brown went to UCLA, then to the New Jersey Nets, to the University of Kansas, to the San Antonio Spurs, to the Los Angeles Clippers, to the Indiana Pacers, to the Philadelphia 76ers, to the Detroit Pistons, to the New York Knicks and now to Charlotte. Between the Knicks and the Bobcats, Brown joined the front office of the 76ers. He also coached the Carolina Cougars in the ABA before moving to Denver with Scheer for the 1974-75 season.
“When I went to the front office of the 76ers, I was convinced I was going to be part of management and going down another career path,” Brown said. “But I’ve always been a coach, and I feel as if I still have something to give to my sport.”
Brown’s only regret is his experience in New York. He had grown up a Knicks fan in New York, and it was like going home. In all of his previous moves, he believed he left the teams in better shape than when he arrived.
“The only place where that didn’t happen was New York,” Brown said. “We won 23 games, and I was the coach. It wasn’t a happy experience from Day One. It didn’t represent the way I’ve coached, the way I’ve treated players and the contribution I’ve made to my sport.”
His mentors were Dean Smith and Frank McGuire at North Carolina and Henry Iba, who coached Oklahoma State and the U.S. Olympic team. And Brown is a purist, noting he never has liked the 3-point shot that came to the NBA from the ABA. His regular-season record as an NBA coach is 1,010-800. He was 229-107 in the ABA and a combined 177-61 at UCLA and Kansas.
He is the only head coach to win an NCAA title (with Kansas in 1988) and an NBA title (with Detroit in 2004).
Larry Brown bio
Born: Sept. 14, 1940
High school: Long Beach High School in Lido Beach, N.Y.
College: North Carolina
Family: Wife Shelly; daughters Kristy, Alli and Madison; son L.J.
Hobbies: Reading and golf (but only during the offseason)
Notable: He thought he would be a high school history teacher. But once he got into coaching, Brown says he hasn’t gone to work a day in his life.
Irv Moss, The Denver Post
