MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Larry Brown, the legendary basketball coach who has won NCAA and NBA titles, is taking a leave of absence from his role as the special adviser to Memphis coach Penny Hardaway because of a “minor medical issue.”
The school announced Brown’s move on Sunday, saying he hopes to return soon.
“We wish him all the best and respect his privacy at this time,” the school’s statement said. It didn’t provide further details.
Brown joined Hardaway’s staff in July 2021 a few years after Brown’s final head coaching job with Auxilum Torino in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A. Hardaway played for Brown as a member of the New York Knicks.
Brown won 1,098 NBA games and reached the playoffs 18 times over 26 seasons. His NCAA title with the Kansas Jayhawks was among three Final Four appearances his teams made in the 1980s, including one with UCLA. He also won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Brown, 82, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2002.