Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown insists his team isn't trying to tank for a better draft pick. Despite having only one win so far this season, Brown sounded optimistic about his young squad gaining more experience and improving.
Philadelphia notched their first and only win of the season on Wednesday in a 85-77 victory at Minnesota. The 76ers are headed for the NBA draft lottery, but Brown insisted it's not intentional.
"Everything we're doing is about winning. I coach to win," Brown told ESPN on Friday. "I talk about winning. We plan to win. We prepare to win. I get why [tanking] comes up, but it's not even close."
Brown also discussed how different it was to come from a team full of veterans to one full of inexperienced youths.
"Where do you begin? I left Disneyland with (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) in San Antonio. We won 50 games every one of my years, went to five NBA Finals, won four of them," said Brown. "To come in now and have the challenge of coaching. ... It's the youngest team in the history of the sport. We're the team with the least experience.
"The challenges are all over the place. From trying to grow the team, to make sure they don't feel deflated, that they feel good about themselves. ... But I love it. Even though what I know now, with two draft picks not playing this year, I'd take this job 50 times out of 50 times."
Philadelphia hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
