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Indiana Pacers: Top 5 Coaches In Franchise History

By Adrian Lawhorn

Mar 31, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel yells from the sidelines against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel yells from the sidelines against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 6, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Larry Brown reacts from the bench against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Larry Brown reacts from the bench against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Larry Brown

Tenure: 4 seasons (1993-97)
Regular Season Winning %: .579
Playoff Winning %: .579

Larry Brown has one of the more intriguing basketball resumes you will find. He was a point guard who starred at North Carolina, playing for two coaching giants (Frank McGuire and Dean Smith).

Brown went on to a pro career in the ABA, making three All-Star teams during his time in the league, despite his diminutive size (5-foot-9, 160 pounds).

Coaching seemed to be a natural fit for Larry Brown, and he proved to be an outstanding head coach from the moment he got his first job in the ABA in the early 1970s.

The Indiana Pacers were in a down cycle when the team hired Brown to be their sideline leader in 1993 and as he’s done everywhere he’s been, he quickly turned the team around.

Under Brown’s watchful eye, the Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals in his first two seasons with the team. However, after a four-year run in Indiana, Brown seemed to get restless and he decided to resign in April 1997.

Three primary things appear to define Larry Brown as a coach. First, he is a great teacher and loves to work with young players and develop their knowledge of the game.

Secondly, he has drastically improved every team he has taken over as head coach at both the college and pro levels.

And lastly, once he joins a program or franchise and improves that team’s fortunes, he leaves. This has been such a consistent pattern during his coaching career, it has even earned him a snarky nickname: “Next Town Brown.”

Larry Brown is a great basketball coach and a Hall of Famer, but he doesn’t stay in one place too long. Brown left Indiana after four years, but he gave Pacers fans a memorable ride while it lasted.

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