MILWAUKEE (WNCN) – A basketball legend with ties to the Triangle area officially brought his illustrious career, which spans over seven decades as a player, coach and announcer, to a highly celebrated end over the weekend.
Hubie Brown, who spent four years as an assistant coach at Duke University before embarking on more than half a century on the bench and behind the microphone, worked his final game as a broadcaster during the Milwaukee Bucks’ 135-127 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.
As the final horn sounded, the 91-year-old Brown was bestowed with the game ball as he went off into retirement with style, receiving countless tributes from people across the NBA as well as the wider basketball community as a whole.
“I have so many things to be thankful for, but my family and I can never thank everyone enough,” Brown said at the end of the telecast. “We just want to send them the love that I’ve seen today right back with a big hug. It was a fantastic ride.”
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Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez, right, talks with ESPN and ABC broadcaster Hubie Brown, 91, on Brown’s final game before an NBA basketball game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis) -
Hubie Brown, 91, talks with fellow broadcaster Mike Breen on Brown’s final television broadcast before an NBA basketball game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis) -
Hubie Brown, 91, looks out on his final television broadcast before an NBA basketball game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
Over the course of the afternoon, players from both teams walked up to the broadcasting table to pay their respects to Brown – taking the time to shake his hand and speak with him before and after the game. In the opening timeout, a visibly emotional Brown heard a booming, emphatic standing ovation from the over 17,000 spectators in attendance, when a video honoring him played on the scoreboard at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
“Thanks for your patience, fans,” he said. “Today was a wonderful day for my family because they’re all here today. I love you all and thank you for the opportunity from management.”
“I’m sure he’s seen so much growth and so much change not only in the game of basketball but in the league,” Bucks guard Damian Lillard said after the game. “It’s come so far in a lot of ways, and I think that obviously you’re going to have the commissioners and you’re going to have players come along, but I think it’s the people who love on the game and love the league and the contributions that come from people like Hubie Brown is what has allowed it to become what it is, is what makes it special.”
He called games as a national TV and radio analyst for 35 years, covering 18 NBA Finals during that stretch.
“You brought so much passion to every telecast,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said during one of the breaks at Sunday’s game. “You took great joy in teaching the finer points of basketball.”
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New York Knicks head coach, Hubie Brown, reacts while talking with one of the NBA referees during game against the Boston Celtics at Boston Garden in Boston, Mass., May 3, 1984. (AP Photo/Paul Benoit) -
New York Knicks head coach Nubie Brown has a few words for a passing official, who gestures with thumb in foreground, seconds after Brown was called for a technical furing first quarter action Friday night, Nov. 18, 1983 against the Boston Celtics in Boston, Mass. (AP Photo)
Prior to his time in the broadcasting booth, he worked the sidelines as a coach on both the college and pro levels, including a brief stint as an assistant for the Duke Blue Devils from 1969 until 1972.
A true, intuitive student of the game from a young age, he graduated from Niagara University in 1955 with a degree in education. Following his early years as a high school coach, Brown eventually accepted his first collegiate job in 1968, but he didn’t expect that he’d also be required to teach.
So for his one and only season as an assistant at William & Mary, he taught two elective basketball courses. In the more than 55 years since then, Brown never stopped teaching the sport that he loved. In fact, his audience only grew from college students to players, coaches and TV viewers worldwide.
“It’s the most remarkable thing and it’s not hyperbole: He has probably taught more people about the game of basketball than anybody that’s ever lived,” broadcasting partner Mike Breen said.
After making the move from college to the professional ranks, Brown led the Kentucky Colonels to an ABA championship in 1975. His other coaching accolades include winning the NBA Coach of the Year award with the Atlanta Hawks in 1978, and then again with the Memphis Grizzles in 2004.
Not surprisingly, his players recognize aspects of his coaching in his broadcasting.
“I used to love listening to him, because he was quite different than any other broadcaster that was on the air,” said Hall of Famer Bernard King, who led the NBA in scoring while playing for Brown with the New York Knicks in 1984-85.
“And I think that the fans that love basketball, the intricacies of the game, he would help the viewer understand exactly what happened and why it happened. And so the viewers are being educated as they watch the game, not just being entertained, and that was a high mark of what he did as a broadcaster.”
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Hubie Brown, right, receives congratulations after he was presented as one of the newest members of the Basketball Hall of Fame during an announcement Monday, April 4, 2005 in St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) -
Former player, former coach, and current broadcaster Hubie Brown, delivers brief remarks at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Friday, Sept. 9, 2005. Brown was one of five people inducted into the Hall of Fame Friday. (AP Photo/Bob Child)
Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, as well as the College Basketball Hall of Fame one year later. He also earned the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Daly, another Hall of Fame coach, served with Brown as assistants during their coaching days in Durham.
“I am tremendously honored to be the co-recipient of the 2017 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award because of the significance and status of the award,” Brown said in a released statement at the time. “This is also a tremendous honor because of my relationship with Chuck Daly in the coaching fraternity as assistant coaches at Duke University and then into the ranks of professional basketball. This award is a major highlight in my coaching career.”
Brown said it felt very fitting to conclude his career in Milwaukee – the place where he landed his first NBA coaching gig back in 1972.
“For me to end it here is very meaningful because I learned so much here,” Brown said.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report