Longtime NBA analyst set to call final game

Even if you just keep up with the NBA occasionally, you likely know who Hubie Brown is.

At the age of 91 and after spending 35 years as a national TV and radio analyst for various networks, Brown will call his final game on Sunday when the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Milwaukee Bucks (2 p.m. ET, ABC).

Ironically, Brown’s final game will come where he first got his start in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Bucks when NBA greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson played for the team in 1972.

Although Brown may be known by most as a terrific basketball analyst, he also spent numerous years on the sideline.

Brown began his coaching career in 1955 at the high school level before transitioning to the collegiate level in 1968. While he became the assistant at William & Mary, he also taught two elective basketball courses. 

After spending two seasons with the Bucks to begin his NBA coaching career, Brown became the head coach of the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels. During his stint with the Colonels, Brown won an ABA Championship in his first season. 

When the ABA and NBA merged during his second season with Kentucky, Brown took the head-coaching position for the Atlanta Hawks. Brown led Atlanta to three playoff appearances in five seasons and compiled a record of 199-209 before he was fired in 1981. 

His next head-coaching opportunity would come with the New York Knicks in 1982. There, he led them to the playoffs during each of his first two seasons. However, the Knicks never reached the playoffs under his guidance after that, and he was let go shortly after his fifth season with the team began.

After spending 15 years off the sidelines to focus on broadcasting, Brown returned to coaching during the 2002-03 season. Hall of Famer Jerry West, who coached against Brown in the 1970s, convinced him to come out of retirement and be the head coach for a struggling Memphis Grizzlies franchise. Brown would eventually lead Memphis to its first playoff appearance in franchise history.

Brown resigned shortly after the 2004-05 season began due to health concerns and returned to broadcasting, where he has remained since.

USA Network first approached Brown for a broadcasting role in 1981. After he was let go by the Knicks, Brown joined CBS full-time in 1987 and moved to TNT a few years later. In total, Brown has called 18 NBA Finals, either on TV or the radio, and has been a mainstay at ESPN since 2004.

With a career that has spanned more than half a century in coaching and broadcasting basketball, Brown’s impact has been felt by players, coaches, the media and viewers around the world.

“It’s the most remarkable thing and it’s not hyperbole: He’s probably taught more people about the game of basketball than anybody that’s ever lived,” longtime ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, who will be on the call with Brown for his final game on Sunday, said, per the Associated Press.

Brown was rewarded for his contributions to the sport by earning his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Here is a fitting tribute to Brown’s career from ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon of “Pardon the Interruption”: