Philadelphia 76ers Deny Hit Piece Regarding Brett Brown
Brett Brown's name has been making waves around the internet for the last few weeks now for all of the wrong reasons. Being that the Philadelphia 76ers' Head Coach is dealing with a critical postseason run, his days in Philly could be numbered barring a first or second-round exit in the playoffs. Well, that's the public's belief, at least.
While nobody from the Sixers' front office or ownership have confirmed such assumptions, they haven't exactly denied it either. Before the Playoff opener against the Brooklyn Nets this past weekend, Sixers' managing partner Josh Harris met with the media before tip-off. When asked about Brown's future as the Sixers' head coach, Harris avoided saying anything that could indicate that Brown's job is on the line.
He kept the focus on beating the Brooklyn Nets, which makes it very clear that the Sixers are going to take it one series at a time with Brown. However, a recent hit piece floating around has many people seeing the situation differently now. According to an article in the NY Daily News, written by Chris Sheridan, Brown is "heading for coaching purgatory."
In the article, various tidbits describe Brown as a pushover for Sixers' star Ben Simmons, relating the coach-player relationship with the second-year guard to former Sixers' star Allen Iverson and coach, Larry Brown. According to Sheridan, Brett Brown has covered up for Simmons on game nights - describing the second-year veterans sicknesses as hangovers from partying out in Florida with his superstar girlfriend, Kendall Jenner.
"A source close to the team told the Daily News, Simmons had spent the previous night partying in Orlando. The “stomach virus” was a fallacy, although that is nothing new for the Sixers organization. They used to do the same thing when Allen Iverson was partying and gambling his nights away in Atlantic City and showing up for practice hung over. Larry Brown was the mastermind of those cover-ups, although the stories eventually came out."
Now that the article has been out for close to 24 hours, it's reflecting more negatively on the writer, rather than the Sixers' head coach. Not only have the 76ers denied the report from 'top to bottom,' according to PFO's Brian Jacobs, but the team's Vice President of Communications took to Twitter to expose the author.
"This is one of the most irresponsible hack jobs I’ve ever seen in more than a decade of working in sports. Factual inaccuracies, made-up stories, and references to convos that never happened. This is a steaming pile of trash. Steaming. Pile."
The idea of Brown being on the hot seat if he doesn't make the Eastern Conference Finals isn't too far-fetched. In fact, that's the popular belief around the NBA. However, killing Brown off after a dominating win over the Brooklyn Nets doesn't make much sense. Especially if the reasoning behind Brown's potential firing is a handful of fabricated stories.
Follow Justin on Twitter: @JGrasso_
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