Former Duke Assistant Hubie Brown
Brown has had a long and distinguished career in basketball as a player, coach and broadcaster.
Vic Bubas certainly had an eye for basketball talent. He recruited players to Duke like Art Heyman, Jeff Mullins, Jack Marin, Mike Lewis and Randy Denton, among others.
However, he also had an eye for coaching talent and among the assistants he hired were two future Hall of Famers: Chuck Daly and Hubie Brown.
Brown had a long career in basketball as a coach and later as a highly regarded broadcaster and Sunday was his final broadcast. He is 91 as he heads into retirement.
Like former Blue Devil Kyrie Irving, Brown was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He stayed at Duke until 1972 after Bucky Waters took over before leaving for an assistants job with the Milwaukee Bucks. Coincidentally, Milwaukee, with former Duke star Gary Trent, beat Jared McCain’s Philadelphia 76ers in his final broadcast (McCain is still out with an injury, however).
He coached the Kentucky Colonels to an ABA championship in 1975 and was NBA Coach of the Year in 1978 and 2004. He also won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, which must have hit him in an interesting way since he and Daly spent a year together in Durham (Daly died in 2009).
His last day behind the mic saw everyone come to talk to him - coaches, players, officials. Even LeBron James texted his respects.
Brown was born in 1933 at the height of the depression at a time when just having a child was a wild statement of optimism. He’s had a marvelous, 70-year run in basketball. We’re sorry that he’s retiring but deeply grateful for all that he has given the game.
- Hubie Brown has emotional sign-off for final call
- Hubie Brown’s Remarkable Journey from Milwaukee to Basketball Icon
- Hubie Brown’s 70-year career in basketball concludes with final broadcast as Bucks defeat 76ers
- Hubie Brown ends historic NBA career at 91, calls it a ‘fantastic ride’
- “I used to lead the league in technicals” - Hubie Brown quips at NBA referee as officials honor 2× NBA Coach of the Year with game ball
- Hubie Brown’s 70-year career in basketball concludes with final broadcast as Bucks defeat 76ers
- $10,460,000 veteran pays emotional tribute to 91-year-old Hubie Brown - “Thought I would call it quits before you”
- There Could Only Be One Hubie Brown