Larry Brown steps down at Memphis as special assistant

Memphis, Tenn. — Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Brown is stepping down from his role as a special advisor to Memphis coach Penny Hardaway due to ongoing health concerns, the school announced Friday.

“We wish Coach Brown a speedy recovery,” Hardaway said in a statement released by the school, which said the health issues are not considered serious. “Having Coach Brown as part of our program over the last year-and-a-half was very impactful on our student-athletes and me as a coach, and we hope all the best for him and good health moving forward.”

Brown had taken a brief leave of absence in late October from the team.

Brown, 82, is the only coach to win championships in both the NCAA (with Kansas in 1988) and the NBA (Detroit Pistons, 2004).

He coached Hardaway with the NBA’s New York Knicks, joined Hardaway's staff in Memphis in July 2021 as an assistant and was named a special assistant to Hardaway before this season.

Brown won 1,098 NBA games and reached the playoffs 18 times over 26 seasons. His NCAA title with the Kansas Jayhawks was among three Final Four appearances his teams made in the 1980s, including one with UCLA.

Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2002.