National Basketball Association

Brown Out In Philly

Updated Aug. 24, 2020 9:40 p.m. ET

The Philadelphia 76ers wasted no time once their offseason began, firing head coach Brett Brown on Monday. The move was first reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Sixers general manager Elton Brand issued a statement, thanking Brown for his time with the organization but emphasizing it was time for a change.

“I have a tremendous level of respect for Brett both personally and professionally and appreciate all he’s done for the 76ers organization and the City of Philadelphia ... Unfortunately, we fell well short of our goals this year and I believe it is best to go in a new direction.”

Brown also issued his own statement upon being relieved of his coaching duties.

FOX Sports NBA analyst Ric Bucher thinks Brown should be relieved — and is surprised the move didn't happen sooner.

It’s amazing Brett lasted as long as he did. Presiding over a roster built to lose, then convincing some of the same players that winning is everything is no easy pivot. Ultimately, he was done in by oversized expectations and under-delivering cornerstone players. No coach can achieve, much less overachieve, when his best players are not his hardest workers. He should be relieved to be relieved of his duties. The Sixers are inherently flawed."

And with Brown's firing all but a certainty after Sunday, Chris Broussard spoke Monday about what should be next for Philly and whether the Sixers need to move on from one of their star players:

According to ESPN's Wojnarowski, the Sixers will also look to make changes in their front office this offseason as well. Brand will be retained as the President of Baskeball Operations but beyond that, nothing is certain.

For now, the franchise will turn its attention toward trying to find the next guy to guide their young All-Star duo of Simmons and Embiid, hopefully getting them over the hump and into the conference finals and possibly the NBA Finals.

And a coach with some Finals experience of his own is reportedly one of the early frontrunners.

According to FOX Bet, Lue is the favorite to be Philly's new head coach (+350), followed by Ime Udoka (+400) and Kenny Atkinson (+500). Franchise legend Allen Iverson is also on the board at +10000.

Brown's firing comes after the Sixers were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, although they were without All-Star forward Simmons.

Brown took over as head coach in 2013 while the franchise was the worst in the league, undergoing "The Process" which led to them drafting Joel Embiid with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Ben Simmons with the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, and Markelle Fultz first overall in the 2017 draft.

The Sixers have reached the playoffs each of the last three seasons, winning at least 50 games in 2017 and 2018, while falling in the Eastern Conference semifinals both times.

This is a developing story.