Brett Brown Believes 76ers Can Learn a Lot About Leadership From 'Last Dance'

For weeks now, ESPN has been airing its highly-anticipated documentary about NBA legend Michael Jordan and the 90s Chicago Bulls. With sports on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ESPN decided to speed up the editing process and release the project earlier than June to hold NBA fans over as sports remain suspended.

While the documentary hits several angles on Jordan's Chicago Bulls playing days, the most recent wave of episodes primarily focused on the legend's leadership ways. As Jordan was a relentless competitor, the Hall of Famer didn't precisely have the best reputation among everybody, which he's perfectly fine with. As long as his team was winning championships, then Jordan was happy he reached his goal.

A look back at Jordan's leadership ways is undoubtedly entertaining for the average basketball fan. But Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown is hopeful that his team is watching the series more as a learning experience as opposed to watching it solely for entertainment purposes.

Like many basketball fans, Brett Brown has been tuned into 'The Last Dance,' as it airs every week. And on Friday afternoon, the 76ers head coach discussed the docuseries on a Zoom call with the media. "Ultimately, I'm just blown away and reminded of just the maniacal competitiveness that Michael had," Brown stated.

With that, Brown is hopeful that his younger 76ers players are watching as they can learn a thing or two from one of the best players the NBA has ever seen. 

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"The pieces that really go into a team," Brown continued. "The intricacies of a team, the competitiveness that it really takes, the notion that your best player has to -- and leadership comes in all forms -- your best player has to grab stuff by the throat and lead, and it can be done a little bit by committee."

Hint hint, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons. While Brown was clearly aiming that message towards his young stars by noting leading can be done by committee, the 76ers head coach wasn't willing to make it seem as if the learning experience was all for the players, because he's been learning from a coaching standpoint as well.

"I put my hand up as the head coach, too," Brown said. "You're reminded that people like MJ and LeBron [James] and [Kevin] Durant, they didn't win championships until they were 28. And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong by maybe a year with all three of those people. So it does take time." 

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Brown is hopeful that sometime soon, the NBA can return to normal at some capacity in order to conclude the 2019-2020 NBA season with a champion. The 76ers head coach made it clear on Friday that winning the Finals is still the Sixers' ultimate goal this season despite their constant hiccups throughout the year. Perhaps, watching the ten-part docuseries about Jordan's 90s Bulls will bring the 76ers back with an entirely new desire to want to win at any cost. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_