Washington Wizards Hire Tony Brown As Lead Assistant Coach

The Washington Wizards are set to hire veteran coach Tony Brown as Scott Brooks’ lead assistant, according to a recent report

The Washington Wizards did not have an exhaustive head coaching search before they ultimately hired Scott Brooks after firing Randy Wittman in April.

Instead of doing their due-diligence before deciding on which coach they should hire, the only candidate the Wizards interviewed was Brooks. They had their eyes set on Brooks and it didn’t make much sense to explore other options, according to the team.

Other organizations, like the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings, interviewed a dozen coaching candidates before getting their guy. On the flip side, the Kings hired Dave Joerger almost immediately after he was left go by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Sacramento made that decision after spending weeks interviewing others, so I guess having your heart set on a single candidate is not that out of the ordinary.

Some, including myself, were disappointed that Washington didn’t explore other options and decided Brooks was their next coach after just a few hours of discussion.

Regardless of how the fans felt about the hire and the process, there’s no question that Brooks is an upgrade over Wittman. The team will now focus on developing their young core of players, which is something they miserably failed to do under Wittman.

Brooks is well-respected around the league and has a solid reputation of making players better. However, Brooks also needs assistant coaches that are considered some of the best in the world.

The head coach is only as good as his advisors, and the staff as a whole needs to be an upgrade over the previous one.

Brooks wanted to hire Rex Kalamian, who’s currently an assistant under Dwane Casey with the Toronto Raptors, but he decided not to join Brooks’ staff. Many around the league believed Brooks would pursue Maurice Cheeks, who coached along side Brooks in Oklahoma City.

Instead, it looks like Tony Brown, who was an assistant and interim head coach with the Brooklyn Nets last season, will join Brooks’ staff with the Washington Wizards.

Brown, who played in the NBA for 12 years, has a ton of coaching experience.

He coached for the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons, Raptors, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and most recently the Nets.

Brown was one of the top assistant coaches under Rick Carlisle from 2011-2014. Carlisle is considered one of the best coaches in the NBA and his teams typically play well on the offensive end of the floor.

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It’s pretty clear that Brooks and the Wizards wanted an experienced assistant coach to help Brooks on the bench. Brown’s resume is super impressive. He’s been in the league for virtually his entire life. Having coaches that were players and could connect with the current guys on the roster is important. Both Brooks and Brown could be considered NBA lifers.