SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs are bringing back coach Brett Brown for the upcoming season; he's set to serve as an assistant coach alongside Gregg Popovich.
Brown previously served as an assistant coach on Popovich’s staff in San Antonio for 11 seasons from 2002 to 2013, and was a member of the Spurs teams that won NBA titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
Now, after several years away from the sidelines, Brown is eager to get back to coaching.
In an interview with "The Rights To Ricky Sanchez" show, Brown spoke about coming back to the NBA and rejoining his former squad.
"I want to coach again. I miss the competition. I love coaching basketball," Brown said. "It's what I know best. I hope I still have stuff to offer. I think that I will come back smarter, better and stronger."
After leaving the Spurs in 2013, he took the Sixers' head coaching job and was a part of their rebuild.
The team was dealing with waiting for an injured Joel Embiid, a young Ben Simmons and a team looking to rebuild for the future—a similar scenario is unfolding now with the rebuilding Spurs.
Some may think the Silver & Black added Brown for exactly that reason.
However, he and Popovich have been talking for some time about his return, and the current franchise reset happened to coincide with the timing.
"I think it ended up being a byproduct of where the team evolved to. Pop and I have been talking for a while," Brown said. "This wasn't something that came out of the left field. We had been talking for a while so that kind of thing was already in place."
Brown also added last month's Dejounte Murray trade to Atlanta occurred during his talks with Popovich but is nevertheless excited to be back.
Specifically, he feels he can lend to the young player development in San Antonio and his experience in Philadelphia can help.
"I do think I can help steer some of the things along. I love [player] development," Brown said.
Brown is well versed in the Spurs' system and familiar with Popovich's approach to the game.
He has plenty of coaching experience in the NBA and in Australia.
He was named head coach of the North Melbourne Giants in 1993 and earned NBL Coach of the Year honors in 1994 after leading the Giants to the National Championship. He also was the head coach of the Australian National Team from 2009-2012, leading the Boomers during the 2012 Summer Olympics, and again from 2019-20.
"I really, really look forward to getting back in the gym with the players on the court and helping the players," said Brown.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5