Brett Brown Lands Major Praise From 76ers’ Joel Embiid
For just the third time in his coaching career, San Antonio Spurs assistant Brett Brown coached against Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid on Monday night.
Before returning to San Antonio’s bench to assist Gregg Popovich last year, Brown took some time off after serving as the head coach of the Sixers. During that time, Brown coached one of the NBA’s most intriguing prospects in former Kansas center Joel Embiid.
These days, Embiid is a long way from the player he once was under Brown. While the former 76ers head coach had seen some spectacular stuff from the former No. 3 overall pick over his early years, he never experienced the MVP version of the big man up close.
That changed on Monday night when Embiid put together the best game of his career right in front of Brown against the Spurs.
“I’m glad I did it in front of him,” Embiid said in front of a room full of reporters with a grin on his face.
In typical Embiid fashion, he wanted to poke fun at the fact that he had a career game against somebody who used to compete with him. After all, it’s all in the big man’s competitive nature to feel like he should dominate those he knows personally so he can have the bragging rights.
However, Embiid’s statement had a double meaning. There’s the fun side of it, which received a nice chuckle from the crowd.
Then, there’s the serious side of it, which displayed a player who came a long way from being a mighty talented yet raw prospect to putting it all together and becoming the player that his former coach always encouraged him to be.
“I started with him,” Embiid added. “My first coach.”
In 36 minutes of action on Monday night, Embiid scored 70 points. He beat out a Sixers franchise record, which was previously held by Wilt Chamberlain, a basketball legend.
Embiid deserved all of the praise he received from his teammates, coaches, and fans on Monday night, but he didn’t want to soak in all of the glory for himself. Along with crediting his teammates for the help, he also issued Brown his flowers for guiding him on the path to becoming the best version of himself.
“He taught me a lot,” said Embiid. Not just on the basketball side but off the court, too. Just maturing. He’s a big part of it … He’s done a lot. Not just for me, but for the whole city of Philadelphia, too. When you think about everything that happened and the losing seasons and to still come out on top and have the success that he had, that’s pretty cool. It’s always good to see him, but I’m kind of glad I did it in front of him so he can kinda see the product of what he created.”
