Hubie Brown, a longtime NBA announcer and former coach, is in his final season calling games, ESPN’s content president Burke Magnus said this week.
Magnus appeared on the “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” podcast and said of the 91-year-old Brown, “I don’t think there’s a single human being who has ever had a longer relationship with professional basketball.”
“We’re going to give Hubie one last chance at a competition. He deserves that,” said Magnus. “We think the world of him. “I think it’s absolutely remarkable the level he’s still calling games at the age of 90 and beyond… we’re going to honor Hubie this year at a time to be determined during the regular season and send him off in style.”
After a brief playing career, Brown went into high school coaching in 1955. After a decade, he rose to the collegiate ranks as an assistant at William & Mary and Duke before joining the staff of a Milwaukee Bucks team in 1972 that featured future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson.
Brown earned his first head coaching job in 1975 with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association, who won the ABA championship in his first season. After the ABA-NBA merger, Brown was hired as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1978 before being fired late in the 1980–81 season.
After the retirement of legendary head coach Red Holzman in 1982, Brown was hired by the New York Knicks. He coached parts of five seasons before being fired early in the 1986-87 season.
After taking on broadcasting duties in between jobs, Brown became a regular on television following his dismissal from the Knicks. He joined the NBA through CBS coverage until the league’s media rights moved to Turner Sports in the early 1990s.
In 2002, 16 years after his last NBA coaching job, Brown was hired by the Memphis Grizzlies at age 69 after Sidney Lowe was fired after an 0-8 start. The following season, his first full season in charge, the Grizzlies improved by 22 wins with a 50–32 record and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. That success led to Brown being named Coach of the Year for the second time.
Brown’s tenure in Memphis did not last long. Twelve games into the 2004-2005 season he resigned due to medical reasons.
After returning to coaching, Brown was hired by ABC for their NBA coverage and called the 2005 and 2006 NBA Finals. He has been part of ABC/ESPN broadcasts ever since. For his contributions to the sport, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2005. He is also a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame.
The past six months have not been easy for Brown. His wife Claire died in June at the age of 87. His son, Brendan, died earlier this month at the age of 54 due to health complications.
