The water, as ever, is right at his head, but Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown is ramped up and reflective on Monday afternoon.
A reporter asks him the pertinent question of his tenure: How does Brown juggle it all? The moving parts, the lineup turnover, the injuries. “I think it’s just the history that we have had — I have had — in Philadelphia,” he says. “We have had a lot of practice at this. And always the landing spot for me is, you coach what you have.
“We came in and I knew what I signed up for and incrementally, you blew it up,” he starts, reciting the flashpoints of the six-year journey that somehow has the 76ers on pace for 49 wins and the sixth seed: the rebuild, the 10-win season, the sagas of Markelle Fultz and the other top draft picks that landed elsewhere, the emergence of superstar pillars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, the road from potential to big bets — Philly employs four max players — and immense pressure.