Stephen A. Smith Goes off on Brett Brown After 76ers' Game 2 Loss

Stephen A. Smith of ESPN's First Take did not hold back on his opinion regarding Philadelphia 76ers head coach, Brett Brown, after the Sixers' Game 2 loss against the Boston Celtics.

Brett Brown seems to be public enemy number one in Philadelphia on Thursday. As the Philadelphia 76ers got demolished by the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, many are left with no choice but to put all of the blame on the Sixers' head coach, Brett Brown.

And ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is siding with Sixers fans on this one. On Thursday morning, Stephen A. discussed the Sixers' loss to the Celtics on First Take. As expected, the former Philadelphia-based columnist was disappointed by what the Sixers put on display in their Game 2 matchup with the Celtics. While plenty of blame can go around to players not named Joel Embiid, Stephen A. only wanted to discuss the infamous Brett Brown. 

Stephen A's Take on Brown

“The Philadelphia 76ers were up 25-11 in the first quarter. In the third quarter or something like that, the score was 80-44 in favor of Boston. That is a 69-19 run. The Philadelphia 76ers got outscored by 50! There’s nothing to talk about with Brett Brown anymore! He is in a world of trouble. This could be it, they could get swept.

Last night, when I saw Joel Embiid with his head in his hands I said ‘this picture right here, if this series ends with this picture looking like that, Brett Brown is done.’ I don’t care if Ben Simmons is not there. You watched them -- they were passing the ball ya’ll and literally nobody wanted to shoot. And when they would shoot they would shoot fadeaway and off-balance shots. They were supposed to be ready for this, but they aren’t ready.

They get out to a start, Brad Stevens -- I mean, he did it two years ago! Here is again. The Sixers came out strong, Brad Stevens makes an adjustment, Brett Brown seems ill-equipped to handle it. He has no answer, and as a result, the Philadelphia 76ers literally get blown out. There’s no way that this can continue.

Brett Brown, I’m not questioning his knowledge of X’s and O’s, I’m saying that whatever the pulse of your team is what it takes to really touch it and to peel from them maximum whatever they have, he seems incapable of doing it. I think the Sixers are on the verge of getting swept, and if that happens I believe Brett Brown will be fired.”

It's hard to argue with Smith's points. Heading into last year's playoffs, many rumors indicated that if Brown failed to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, his days as the Sixers' head coach are likely finished. As we know, the 76ers failed to overcome the Toronto Raptors in round two. However, the way they lost likely made it difficult for the 76ers to close the door on Brown. Losing a Game 7 battle against the eventual Finals Champions by a few lucky bounces on a buzzer-beater shot more than likely bought Brett Brown an extra chance at renewing his job for another year.

But in 2019-2020, the pressure was definitely on Brown to take the Sixers further than they've ever been. Unfortunately, everything about the 2019-2020 season has been a disappointment. Before the NBA's suspension back in March, the Sixers were ranked as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. After wrapping up the regular season with eight seeding games in Orlando, Philly stayed where they're at after going 4-4. 

Drawing the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs was probably the best-case scenario for the 76ers -- but right now, it doesn't even matter. At this point, the Sixers are in an 0-2 hole against Boston. And two more losses this week could send them packing with a first-round exit. While the absence of the injured Ben Simmons definitely played a part in the Sixers' struggles, we've seen all year long that with or without Ben Simmons, the Sixers weren't maximizing their potential. Barring a major shift in momentum, Philly will more than likely make significant changes during the offseason as they will need a fresh start moving forward. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_