If the NBA Season Does Not Return, Can the 76ers Fire Brett Brown

In Defense of Brett Brown:

If you ever take a casual stroll down the toxic lane of 76ers Twitter, you’ll notice there are usually two groups of people. One group hates Brett Brown, wants him gone at all costs, and believes he is the sole reason the 76ers struggle. The second group does want Brett Brown fired but doesn’t believe he is the only one to blame. I’m in the second group; not everything falls at the feet of Brett Brown. 

Ben Simmons’ refusing to shoot threes is on Ben Simmons. Overpaying Al Horford in free agency is on Elton Brand. Taking Markelle Fultz over Jayson Tatum is Brian Colangelo’s fault. The Sixers’ lack of spacing on offense? Some will only blame Brett Brown for this issue. To a certain degree, that’s fair, but to another extent, it’s tough to have an offensive system with three non-three point shooters in Joel Embiid, Horford, and Simmons. Part of that is on Brand, and another part is on Simmons for refusing to shoot. 

In February, when Brown moved Horford to the bench for Shake Milton, a good shooter, that turned out to be one of his best moves as head coach. My point here is that while almost everyone wants him gone, Brett Brown is far from the NBA’s worst coach.   

At The Start 

BB was hired by the team following the 2012-13 and was seen as the brainchild of Greg Popovich. For the first four years of his tenure, GM Sam Hinkie asked him to lose with a team of G Leaguers, in hopes of a bright future. In many ways, Brett Brown was the heart and soul of the Process. Naturally, when a team starts winning, expectations rise. 

When the Sixers took a step forward and made it back to the 2017-18 season’s playoffs, fans were happy to watch winning 76ers basketball again. It was new. It was exciting. Coming into this season, the 76ers had championship expectations, arguably for the first time since in 15 seasons.  

It Is Time To Move On

It goes without repeating, but those high expectations have not been met so far this season. Out of all the negative measurements of this 76ers team, arguably, none are more eye-popping than their home/road splits. At home, the 76ers had the best record in the NBA at 29-2. 

On the road, they had a 10-24 record, worse than many lottery teams such as the Hornets, Timberwolves, and Knicks. I repeat, Brett Brown cannot get 100% of the blame for this discrepancy. A large part of the blame does fall on the players themselves. That being said, Brown does not do a good job getting players motivated to perform on the road. Having a difference that large in the home/road splits is unacceptable. 

Choosing Raul Neto over Trey Burke in the rotation? That’s blatantly on Brett Brown. Burke consistently outperformed Neto, and yet Brown has continued to insist on using Neto. Having Tobias Harris take the late-game shots? Most would argue it should be Embiid down-low in the post. Drawing up those plays is on Brett Brown. 

Former Sixer, Jimmy Butler, has stated how players are not always receptive to Brett Brown. Not everything Butler says is automatically correct. However, there is something to be said about a former player calling out his former head coach. My take is that the 76ers have been listening to Brett Brown for so long that they need to hear it from a new voice. In short, it’s the right decision to move on from BB after the season.  

Can the 76ers Fire Brett Brown if the Season Doesn’t Return?

Since free agency, Elton Brand and management have been selling fans on the notion that this 76ers roster is built for the playoffs. Come playoff time, Philadelphia’s length will be too much for opposing teams, and defense wins championships. In an interview over zoom Friday morning with the press, Brett Brown reiterated this belief. 

This brings me to the main question: if the NBA season does not return, can the 76ers still fire Brett Brown? Whether or not the answer should be yes, I find it very unlikely that the team would pull that trigger. The front office viewed this team as a team built for the playoffs, so how could they fire BB before he gets a chance to have them for a playoff series? 

It’s a tough situation because, in many ways, the correct move for the team to make would be to fire their head coach. That being said, it’s tougher to fire a coach who had his team in playoff position. Regardless of expectations, the 76ers were still not a bad NBA team. Come the playoffs, in theory, anything can happen. In a move that may hurt the team, Elton Brand likely will not be able to let Brett Brown go if the season does not return. How could he fire him before he even gets the chance to coach them in the playoffs? The short answer, unfortunately, is that he can’t. 

Overall, it will be interesting to see what happens with Brett Brown this offseason. If the season returns, and Philly loses early in the playoff, BB is nearly guaranteed to get fired. However, if the season does not come back, it’s unlikely the team will move on. Apologies to all the Brett Brown Twitter haters out there as well.   

Follow me on Twitter @PodolskyDanny

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