Sports
Larry Brown
born 1940 · basketball coach
Hall of Fame coach who led the Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship over the Lakers, the only coach to win both NCAA and NBA titles.
- Born
New York City, New York
age 86- Birth name
- Lawrence Harvey Brown
- Detroit years
- 2003–2005
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
A journeyman coach famous for rebuilding teams and then moving on, Brown was hired by the Pistons in 2003 to replace Rick Carlisle. He inherited a roster built by Joe Dumars around Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince, and after a midseason trade for Rasheed Wallace he turned it into a relentless defensive team that played unselfishly with no superstar. In the 2004 NBA Finals the Pistons were heavy underdogs against a Los Angeles Lakers team with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but they won the series four games to one, clinching the title at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The victory made Brown the only coach in history with both an NCAA championship (Kansas, 1988) and an NBA title. His 2005 team returned to the Finals and lost to San Antonio in seven games; amid rumors about his future and health concerns, he left Detroit that summer.
Highlights
- Pistons head coach 2003–2005
- Won the 2004 NBA championship, beating the Lakers 4–1
- Only coach to win both NCAA and NBA titles
- Reached the 2005 NBA Finals with Detroit
- Basketball Hall of Fame, 2002
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 2003–2005
The Palace of Auburn Hills
Demolished · 1988–2017
Where the Pistons clinched the 2004 championship; demolished in 2020.