UNC Basketball: Larry Brown accepts prestigious award, new coaching job

Former UNC basketball standout Larry Brown is not only being recognized for his coaching excellence, but has found a new gig to continue his storied career.

Both on the collegiate and professional level, Larry Brown has had a tremendous coaching career. In honor of what Brown has been able to accomplish on the sidelines, the former UNC basketball standout and coach recently received a prestigious award.

Prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Brown was awarded with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, which is presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association, commemorates the memory of Hall-of-Famer Chuck Daly, who over an outstanding NBA coaching career set a standard of integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion of NBA basketball.

Since its inception in 2009, the National Basketball Coaches Association has selected a coach who has exemplified the important values of the award. Brown becomes the 16th coach to be awarded the tremendous honor.

To this day, Brown is still the only coach to win both an NCAA National Championship as well as an NBA title. As a professional coach, Brown holds a 1,275-965 record in both the ABA and NBA, and is also the only coach in league history to lead eight different franchises to the postseason.

Before his illustrious coaching career began, Brown worked toward his dreams of playing professional basketball. He attended the University of North Carolina where he had the opportunity to play for legendary coaches Frank McGwire and Dean Smith.

After his collegiate career wrapped up, Brown returned to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach from 1965-1967. Brown then tried to restart his playing career, but ultimately found a steady home once he returned to the sidelines.

There have been many stops along the way, but Brown isn’t ready to officially call it quits just yet. This week, the 80-year-old accepted his next coaching position.

After a hiatus from coaching, Brown will return to the sidelines, as he will serve as an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers. Brown was brought in by head coach Penny Hardaway to help bolster his staff.

Brown should provide some great insight for not only Hardaway, but the Tigers basketball program as a whole. As a guy who has succeeded at both levels, he has a lot of basketball knowledge that will most certainly come in handy.

When asked about his new opportunity, Brown seemed pretty excited to get back on the sidelines:

After taking some time to honor Brown’s coaching career, we were all quickly reminded that his passion for the sport is still alive and well. Before we close the book on his Hall-of-Fame career, there’s at least one more stop that needs to be added to the story.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest news and updates on Larry Brown, and the rest of the UNC basketball program.