Scott Brooks is 50 now, though his face has been able to beat back the crinkling spurred by time, preserving the age-defying baby-faced look he has carried for life. There wasn’t even a gray hair on his head on Wednesday when he was introduced as the Washington Wizards‘ 24th coach.
When he was first a player in the NBA, his youthful features made him a target of renowned heckler Robin Ficker, who would sit close to the court at Bullets games and torment just about everyone. When Brooks arrived in 1988 as an undrafted 23-year-old point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, Ficker latched on and addressed 76ers coach Jim Lynum.