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ShareLarry Brown Steps Down As 76ers Coach And Vice President Of Basketball Operations - Quotes from the Press Conference
Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider announced on Monday, May 26 that Larry Brown has resigned as the Philadelphia 76ers head coach and vice president of basketball operations, General Manager Billy King has been named president of the team and Dave Coskey, currently the team’s executive vice president, will expand his duties and has been named president of a new Comcast-Spectacor Marketing Division.
“I don’t think there is any secret to why we are here. Larry (Brown) is resigning. I consider Larry a real friend and a guy that has done a tremendous amount for the 76ers organization. We have been in the playoffs the last five years under his leadership after a nine-year drought. I personally am sad to see him leaving, but because of the job he has done and the respect that I have for him, I really want to wish him the very best in whatever he does in the future. At the same time, I am very happy to announce that Billy King has been elevated to president of the organization as well as general manager. Billy has done a wonderful job for us. Larry is the guy that hired him and he leaves us in very good hands with Billy, and we are looking forward to Billy’s leadership in the future. And also, I am happy to announce that Dave Coskey has been elevated to a new position that has been created for the entire organization, and he will head up the marketing division for all of our teams and hopefully bring to the Flyers and the Phantoms, the same kind of wonderful job that he has done with the 76ers. We are very excited about that, very excited about having Dave onboard throughout the entire organization…”
Opening statement
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Snider and the Roberts’ family. I don’t think any coach could have ever had a better situation than I had in terms of relationship with ownership. I have done this quite a bit and been involved with a lot of situations, but there has never been a situation like this as far as I’m concerned. I am proud of Billy (King) and I thank him for what he has done. The coaches I had for me, I think were as loyal and as helpful as any coach could possibly expect. And I love my players. We had a good run. I think it is time to get somebody else in here and maybe give a fresh look. The fans of this city, I don’t think any place that I have ever been has had more loyal fans and people that support us in a way that I was really proud to be their coach. Thank you.”
When asked what brought him to the decision
“This has been coming for a long time. I have said to everybody that I did not want to hold this franchise back. I kind of thought that in the middle of the season that maybe it was time that we needed a change, a fresh look. I think that has been on my mind a while. Then the fact that we had to go through this, ‘North Carolina thing,’ the possibility that I might be leaving. I think it was unfair to the organization. I talked to Ed (Snider) a lot about it, and to Billy (King), and there were so many positives here that it was hard to really think about this ever really happening.”
When asked about the possibility of pursuing other NBA jobs
“I had a clause that I could not coach anywhere for a couple years. When I visited with Ed (Snider), he said that whatever I wanted to do he was all for it. He just wanted me to be happy. I don’t know. Episcopal High School hasn’t called yet. My family loves Philly, so we are just going to have to wait and see, but I can do whatever I want.”
When asked what he thought his legacy would be in Philadelphia
“I lasted longer than I had at any other place I guess. I hope that it is that our teams played hard and played unselfishly and reflected what this city is about. That would make me happy. We had a team that people could be proud of.”
When asked about Billy King
“He is the best. I remember when I asked Ed (Snider) and Pat (Croce) to give him a chance. I felt confident that he would be great at whatever he did. I guess Ed feels the way I did, by rewarding him with this promotion. He is great at what he does, and I think we are lucky that he is going to be part of this franchise for a long time.”
When asked about rumors about being a candidate for Houston and Cleveland
“You had me going to North Carolina, Kansas and where else…? There are a lot of jobs opened in this league, but I just left a great one, and I am going to sit back and try to get with my family and figure out what is best for everybody. I saw the game last night and LeBron James has me going to Cleveland. He has to talk to some of my players first. I didn’t know until last night what was really going to happen. Hopefully, I will have time to sit down with Shelly and my assistant coaches and Billy and figure out what direction we need to go in.”
When asked if he thought his relationship with Allen Iverson wound up on a good note
“I thought Allen (Iverson) had a pretty good career with me as his coach. I am pretty proud of what he has done and where he has brought our franchise. You will have to ask him that. I don’t worry about it. I think it has gotten better every year that I have been around him. I think that if you look at the way he has played and the way he has progressed, I don’t think it could have happened if we didn’t have a good relationship.”
When asked on suggestions for a new coach on dealing with Allen Iverson off the court
“He (Allen Iverson) made a lot of progress in the six years that I have been here. I don’t have to tell the guy anything. Once he sees how hard he plays and how hard he tries and what a great competitor he is he will figure it out. I remember, we won 22 games when we got here and people said he was uncoachable. Low and behold, we get to the Finals, he wins the MVP in the league and he is on the Olympic team, gave us a chance to go to the playoffs five years in a row. I think he has done alright. I think he will continue to grow and get better.”
On his conversation with Billy King
“Billy and I have been talking about this for a while, and I let him know what I was thinking about. I asked him to share it with Ed (Snider). Shelly and I went away for a few days, and I wanted to make sure before anything was done that I sat down and talked to Ed and let him know what was on my mind. I didn’t want to go into the middle of next year and all of the sudden have the same kind of conversation start again. I didn’t think it would be fair to anybody. I really didn’t know anything until this weekend. It wasn’t final. I was pretty lucky because Ed and Billy, they didn’t want to talk me out of anything. They were supportive in whatever I wanted to do. I think it was pretty clear in my mind, once Shelly and I got back from Florida, the direction we were going in.”
On whether or not he leaves Philadelphia satisfied
“I wanted to see what happened in 1983 happen here. I came here six years ago with a lot of hopes and a lot of goals. I don’t know if I’m completely satisfied in terms of achieving all of the goals we had set, but I feel pretty good about the experience I had here and what we did with this franchise. I want us to win a championship. I think this city deserves it. I was hopeful to be a part of that. I had a wonderful experience here. I don’t think any coach could have been treated any better than I was treated. My family loved it here. I’ve never been in a community quite like this where the support is so positive. But still, it fell short of some of the things I would have hoped that we would have been able to achieve.”
“After this press conference we’ll get started. One thing is that it’s not going to be done through the media. We’re going to try to find the best coach that fits the way we want to play and try to reach the goal that Larry just talked about – winning a championship. This process will get started after the press conference, coming up with names and ideas. I don’t want to give you a timetable of exactly when it’s going to be because it’s not something you should rush.”
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Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider
Opening statement to the press conference“I don’t think there is any secret to why we are here. Larry (Brown) is resigning. I consider Larry a real friend and a guy that has done a tremendous amount for the 76ers organization. We have been in the playoffs the last five years under his leadership after a nine-year drought. I personally am sad to see him leaving, but because of the job he has done and the respect that I have for him, I really want to wish him the very best in whatever he does in the future. At the same time, I am very happy to announce that Billy King has been elevated to president of the organization as well as general manager. Billy has done a wonderful job for us. Larry is the guy that hired him and he leaves us in very good hands with Billy, and we are looking forward to Billy’s leadership in the future. And also, I am happy to announce that Dave Coskey has been elevated to a new position that has been created for the entire organization, and he will head up the marketing division for all of our teams and hopefully bring to the Flyers and the Phantoms, the same kind of wonderful job that he has done with the 76ers. We are very excited about that, very excited about having Dave onboard throughout the entire organization…”
 |
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Snider and the Roberts’ family. I don’t think any coach could have ever had a better situation than I had in terms of relationship with ownership. I have done this quite a bit and been involved with a lot of situations, but there has never been a situation like this as far as I’m concerned. I am proud of Billy (King) and I thank him for what he has done. The coaches I had for me, I think were as loyal and as helpful as any coach could possibly expect. And I love my players. We had a good run. I think it is time to get somebody else in here and maybe give a fresh look. The fans of this city, I don’t think any place that I have ever been has had more loyal fans and people that support us in a way that I was really proud to be their coach. Thank you.”
When asked what brought him to the decision
“This has been coming for a long time. I have said to everybody that I did not want to hold this franchise back. I kind of thought that in the middle of the season that maybe it was time that we needed a change, a fresh look. I think that has been on my mind a while. Then the fact that we had to go through this, ‘North Carolina thing,’ the possibility that I might be leaving. I think it was unfair to the organization. I talked to Ed (Snider) a lot about it, and to Billy (King), and there were so many positives here that it was hard to really think about this ever really happening.”
When asked about the possibility of pursuing other NBA jobs
“I had a clause that I could not coach anywhere for a couple years. When I visited with Ed (Snider), he said that whatever I wanted to do he was all for it. He just wanted me to be happy. I don’t know. Episcopal High School hasn’t called yet. My family loves Philly, so we are just going to have to wait and see, but I can do whatever I want.”
When asked what he thought his legacy would be in Philadelphia
“I lasted longer than I had at any other place I guess. I hope that it is that our teams played hard and played unselfishly and reflected what this city is about. That would make me happy. We had a team that people could be proud of.”
When asked about Billy King
“He is the best. I remember when I asked Ed (Snider) and Pat (Croce) to give him a chance. I felt confident that he would be great at whatever he did. I guess Ed feels the way I did, by rewarding him with this promotion. He is great at what he does, and I think we are lucky that he is going to be part of this franchise for a long time.”
When asked about rumors about being a candidate for Houston and Cleveland
“You had me going to North Carolina, Kansas and where else…? There are a lot of jobs opened in this league, but I just left a great one, and I am going to sit back and try to get with my family and figure out what is best for everybody. I saw the game last night and LeBron James has me going to Cleveland. He has to talk to some of my players first. I didn’t know until last night what was really going to happen. Hopefully, I will have time to sit down with Shelly and my assistant coaches and Billy and figure out what direction we need to go in.”
When asked if he thought his relationship with Allen Iverson wound up on a good note
“I thought Allen (Iverson) had a pretty good career with me as his coach. I am pretty proud of what he has done and where he has brought our franchise. You will have to ask him that. I don’t worry about it. I think it has gotten better every year that I have been around him. I think that if you look at the way he has played and the way he has progressed, I don’t think it could have happened if we didn’t have a good relationship.”
When asked on suggestions for a new coach on dealing with Allen Iverson off the court
“He (Allen Iverson) made a lot of progress in the six years that I have been here. I don’t have to tell the guy anything. Once he sees how hard he plays and how hard he tries and what a great competitor he is he will figure it out. I remember, we won 22 games when we got here and people said he was uncoachable. Low and behold, we get to the Finals, he wins the MVP in the league and he is on the Olympic team, gave us a chance to go to the playoffs five years in a row. I think he has done alright. I think he will continue to grow and get better.”
On his conversation with Billy King
“Billy and I have been talking about this for a while, and I let him know what I was thinking about. I asked him to share it with Ed (Snider). Shelly and I went away for a few days, and I wanted to make sure before anything was done that I sat down and talked to Ed and let him know what was on my mind. I didn’t want to go into the middle of next year and all of the sudden have the same kind of conversation start again. I didn’t think it would be fair to anybody. I really didn’t know anything until this weekend. It wasn’t final. I was pretty lucky because Ed and Billy, they didn’t want to talk me out of anything. They were supportive in whatever I wanted to do. I think it was pretty clear in my mind, once Shelly and I got back from Florida, the direction we were going in.”
On whether or not he leaves Philadelphia satisfied
“I wanted to see what happened in 1983 happen here. I came here six years ago with a lot of hopes and a lot of goals. I don’t know if I’m completely satisfied in terms of achieving all of the goals we had set, but I feel pretty good about the experience I had here and what we did with this franchise. I want us to win a championship. I think this city deserves it. I was hopeful to be a part of that. I had a wonderful experience here. I don’t think any coach could have been treated any better than I was treated. My family loved it here. I’ve never been in a community quite like this where the support is so positive. But still, it fell short of some of the things I would have hoped that we would have been able to achieve.”
 |
Billy King
On the search for a new head coach“After this press conference we’ll get started. One thing is that it’s not going to be done through the media. We’re going to try to find the best coach that fits the way we want to play and try to reach the goal that Larry just talked about – winning a championship. This process will get started after the press conference, coming up with names and ideas. I don’t want to give you a timetable of exactly when it’s going to be because it’s not something you should rush.”
