The wisdom of Hubie

With very little fanfare, Hubie Brown was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, joining a group that included fellow coaches Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun.

Brown has had a profound impact on the game of basketball and his induction was well deserved. He coached in the NBA for 13 seasons following a two-year stint in the ABA, although Brown took a long detour in the broadcasting booth between coaching gigs. After leaving the New York Knicks in 1987, Brown provided his expert commentary on television for 16 years before returning to the league to coach the Memphis Grizzlies.

But while his accomplishments on the court and in the booth are well-known, Brown is perhaps most appreciated for his coaching clinics. Rarely has any man enjoyed teaching the game the way Brown does.

He believes in sharing his knowledge of basketball with everyone, and he has spent much of his life traveling the country teaching the game to high school and college coaches. And as one might suspect – given his television background – he is entertaining, informative and technically brilliant.

In the fall of 2003, I visited the Grizzlies' training camp to watch a Brown-led practice. While he put his team through an arduous two-hour workout, Brown simultaneously lectured the 30 or so visiting coaches in the stands, providing commentary and historical perspective for each drill.

I watched as Brown put his Grizzlies into their press offense – called "circle circle" – while explaining to the coaches in the stands that Arizona had used the same press break to beat Kentucky in the 1997 NCAA championship game. All the while, his players were behind him, seamlessly working through the drill. The workout was brisk, and the Grizzlies players rarely made a peep, hanging on every one of Brown's words just as the coaching visitors were.

When practice ended, Brown made a point of saying hello to each person who had watched practice. When he approached me, he offered me five tips to follow in my impending broadcasting career. I dutifully wrote them down and use them frequently in my work with TNT. I don't think Brown ever stops teaching.

It's no wonder Jerry West hired him out of the booth to resurrect the Grizzlies. Hubie Brown was born to coach, and his guidance helped Memphis to a complete turnaround. He was honored as the NBA's Coach of the Year in 2004 after leading the franchise to its first-ever playoff berth.

But as thousands of coaches around the country will tell you, Brown's impact on the game goes way beyond his coaching record. He is a gift to basketball – a man with an amazing knowledge of the game who loves to teach it to anyone who will listen.

That's why his name can now be found in Springfield.