USA - Colorado fail to lure Brown

BROOMFIELD (NBDL) - Colorado's new NBA Development League franchise has failed in an ambitious move to make Hall of Famer Larry Brown its new coach.

The Colorado 14ers, aware that Brown has previously said he wants to return to coach in the Centennial State, approached Brown this week.

Gary Hunter, Broomfield Sports president and CEO, said that the former Team USA coach sounded interested in the offer, but ultimately turned it down.

"Ninety percent of the conversation was about mutual friends and family," Hunter told the Denver Post.

"He just indicated that he thought it would be a good opportunity for two reasons. He loves Colorado and he loves to develop basketball players."

Brown is still mired in a contract dispute with the New York Knicks, who sacked him in June, one season into a five-year $50 million contract. Brown's agent Joe
Glass insists the Knicks must pay up the remainder of the deal.

"Under the circumstances, he decided he better spend some more time with his family before deciding about his future," Hunter added. "He said money is no object."

Brown previously coached the Denver Rockets. The American Basketball Association (ABA) franchise eventually became today's Denver Nuggets of the NBA.

Brown, who coached Team USA to a bronze medal in 2004, is the only man to have won national titles in both the NCAA and NBA. He coached the University of Kansas to an NCAA title in 1988, and won the NBA's biggest prize with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

PA Sport