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Source: Brooklyn Nets, Philadephia 76ers contact Larry Brown

By Net Income
USA TODAY Sports

If you google "Billy King" and "Larry Brown," you'll come up with all sorts of connections. Brown hired King as an assistant coach in Indiana, where they worked together for four years. Then Brown helped get King a job in the Philadelphia front office. King is always quoting Brown on matters of life and the NBA.

Now comes word from an anonymous source to Adam Zagoria that the Nets, along with the 76ers and possibly the Clippers, have contacted Brown, who's currently coaching SMU in Dallas. But within hours, any suggestion that Brown is a candidate for the head coaching job had been shot down.

"Three NBA teams have talked to him," the source said, adding that he was not certain of the identity of the third team. "If one of those teams offered him I think he would [take it] but I don’t think they’re going to offer him," the source said.

Brown, 72, is the only coach ever to win an NBA and NCAA championship and has coached nine NBA teams. He is a member of the Hall of Fame. If hired by any NBA team, he would be the oldest NBA head coach ever. Brown's contract situation at SMU is unclear, but he just had his best recruiting year and his son has enrolled at the school, reports Zagoria.

Later, Peter Vescey, asked by a fan if he could confirm the report, said he could not.

Alex Raskin, Tim Bontemps and NetsDaily, among others, were told the same thing on Wednesday, that Brown is not a candidate.

There are other rumors afoot as well. Are rumors of new contacts indications that the final stage of the search is underway or merely attempts by outside candidates or their advocates to gain some last-minute traction?

In Turkey, a comment by a Turkish national team official spurred speculation that the Nets may be talking to Ettore Messina as well. The Turkish Basketball Federation has tapped Messina as its top choice to coach its national team in this summer's European championships, but on Tuesday an official said negotiations are at a standstill because Messina is talking to an NBA team or teams about a head coaching job.

Meanwhile, Brian Shaw is reportedly the first choice of the Clippers. Shaw won five rings with the Lakers, having spent most of his playing and coaching career in Los Angeles. That rumor did indeed seem legitimate.

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