Former coach and longtime broadcaster Hubie Brown finally calls it quits, as he’s headed into retirement after spending more than 50 years working in various fronts of professional basketball. The 91-year-old was honored this weekend when he called his final game as the Bucks defeated the 76ers’ 135-127.
The basketball legend, who was awarded the game ball after the final buzzer sounded, was thankful to have received so many tributes across the NBA community. “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.
Players from both squads found the time to approach and thank him for everything he’s done for the sport. “We just want to send them the love that I’ve seen today right back with a big hug. It was a fantastic ride,” Hubie assured after his last NBA contest, waving out the crowd and saying, “Thank you.”
Brown later admitted that he almost cried when the tribute video aired at the Fiserv Forum, especially as he considered it fitting that his final game came in Milwaukee, where he was first hired as an NBA coach on Larry Costello’s staff, during a two-year stint starting in 1972.
“When I came here to the Milwaukee Bucks and Larry Costello, I received a master’s degree and a doctorate’s degree in basketball in two years,” the 91-year-old recalled at the start of Sunday’s programming. That eventually launched him into a notorious career on the bench, and later behind a microphone.
Hubie coached 15 campaign with the Kentucky Colonels in the 1970s, and then with the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, and Grizzlies all the way up to 2005. As a national TV and radio analyst, he dedicated 25 years to it, covering a total of 18 NBA Finals.
“I’m sure he’s seen so much growth and so much change not only in the game of basketball but in the league,” Damian Lillard said about the Hall of Famer. “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.”
The Bucks guard then added: “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.”
