Brown led Detroit to an NBA championship in 2004, and the Pistons got back to the finals in 2005 before losing to San Antonio in seven games.
Even during that second Eastern Conference championship season in Detroit, reports linked Brown to jobs in New York, Los Angeles and Denver. The Cleveland Cavaliers had talked with Brown about becoming their president of basketball operations after getting permission from the Pistons.
Within weeks after that season ended, Brown and the Pistons reached a settlement on the final three years of his contract that left him free to coach another team. He then went to the Knicks.
His longest tenure with any team was six seasons with Philadelphia. He left the 76ers with two years left on his contract to go to Detroit.
Brown was 135-44 in five seasons at Kansas, but the Jayhawks were banned from the 1989 NCAA tournament after he left because of recruiting violations. He was 42-17 at UCLA, whose runner-up finish in the 1980 NCAA tournament was later vacated by the NCAA.
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