By Dave Holcomb
It’s been a busy week for Philadelphia 76ers Owner Josh Harris. Since last Thursday, Harris hired the 76ers next head coach in Brett Brown and then bought the New Jersey Devils.
Brett Brown had been a longtime member of the San Antonio Spurs organization and served as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich since 2007. He was somehow involved in all four of the Spurs NBA Championships since 1999.
Brown knows he will have a lot of work to do after the team’s experiment with Center Andrew Bynum drastically failed. He would not sign a contract for fewer than four years.
“I was not going to take the job without the four years (guaranteed),” Brown said according to USA Today. “And I am extremely grateful to the owners where they took a step back, and I think it’s a tremendous reflection of what they truly think too. It’s going to take time.”
The 76ers do have a tendency to have a quick turnaround at the head coach position. Brown will be the eighth head coach in 10 years to lead Philadelphia.
Owner Josh Harris along with his business partner David Blitzer bought the Devils on Thursday. The hockey team, with their lease to the Prudential Center, sold for $320 million dollars.
Harris already announced the team will be retaining long-time executive Lou Lamoriello and leaving him in charge of hockey operations.
Naturally, rumors began to circle over the weekend about the 76ers future in Philadelphia. New Jersey no longer has a NBA team with the Nets moving to Brooklyn. Harris put the utterly ridiculous rumors to bed.
“The Sixers are staying in Philly,” Harris said.
This is not the first time a sports owner has bought multiple teams in different sports, but normally they do not work out. Especially in cases where NFL owners buy Premier League teams in the United Kingdom, teams seem to suffer from a lack of attention or funds. Perhaps being located so close together will help out the 76ers and Devils franchises.
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