LYNNWOOD – If he had a different first name, people might not know. But because his name is Fred, same as his father, most folks make the connection right away.
That’s what happens when Dad is one of the most famous athletes in Seattle sports history.
These days, 32-year-old Fred Brown Jr. is trying to make his own name in basketball. The son of Downtown Freddie Brown, who played 13 seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics and was the captain during the team’s 1978-79 NBA championship season, is the first-year men’s head basketball coach at Edmonds Community College.
“My name may open a lot of doors, and trust me it does, but I’ve found that once I’m there it’s not Fred Brown Sr. coming through the door,” he said. “It’s Fred Brown Jr. Maybe my name is an icebreaker I can use, but once I get through that door I usually just take over with the person that I am.
“Everywhere I go – and I travel a lot, not just across Washington, but across America – people will ask me, ‘Are you Downtown Freddie Brown’s son?’ When I tell them yes, they’re surprised. But everybody has good things to say about my dad, and I appreciate him for being that guy. I know there are a lot of guys’ dads that are kind of standoffish and not so nice, so warm. I’m just thankful my dad was the way he was.”
Brown, the son, grew up on Mercer Island and graduated from high school there in 1992. He went on to the University of Iowa, his father’s alma mater, and played basketball for one year, but a foot injury that needed eventual surgery ended up bringing him back to the Seattle area. He played two seasons at Edmonds CC, but by then was thinking of other ways to succeed in the game.
“You have all these dreams of making it to the NBA, but when the reality hits you … and if there’s an injury, you have to think about what else you’re going to do,” he said. “I’d played ball since I was (a child) and I love it to this day, but I was also looking for a way to make basketball work without making it to the NBA.
“I had started learning the business of basketball and it showed me that even if I couldn’t make money on the court, I could make money off the court.”
In recent years, Brown has been involved in various aspects of the game. He was an assistant coach for six years at Mercer Island High School, working under his former coach Ed Pepple. He coordinated basketball camps put on by his father. He worked in player development with some of the Seattle area’s top young players, including Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson, all future NBA stars. And he has begun working with his father – who had a long career in banking after his playing career ended – as a financial consultant to pro athletes.
In addition, he dreamed of becoming a Division I college coach, or perhaps an NBA player-development coach or executive. He sees the job at Edmonds CC as a step toward other jobs further up the basketball ladder.
“I’m 32,” he said, “and by the time I’m 37 or 38 I’ll be looking to make some sort of move. In the next three to five years, I’m looking to take that step and keep moving up.
“I just think I’m a guy who’s young and energetic, and I just need to get a little bit more under my belt before I put in for something,” he added.
Faimous Harrison, the athletic director at Edmonds CC, said there was obvious name familiarity when Brown applied for the Edmonds CC job.
“Yes, he’s Fred Brown Jr., and everyone associates him with his father, who obviously is known through his basketball career in the NBA,” Harrison said. “But Freddie is not his father.”
During the interview process, Harrison went on, Brown stood out for his longtime involvement with basketball, both as a player and later as a coach. It was obvious, Harrison said, “that he’s passionate about basketball.”
The only uncertainty was Brown’s ability to recruit, which was not something he had done in his earlier coaching jobs, and “which is 75 to 90 percent of being a successful coach” at the college level, Harrison said. But from their conversations, he added, “I didn’t think Fred would have any trouble with the recruiting.”
Brown was 5 years old when the Sonics won the NBA title in 1979, and he has vivid memories of that remarkable season. He remembers, for instance, the celebratory parade through the streets of downtown Seattle, largely because he got to ride in one of the convertibles with his dad amidst the cheering throngs. He also remembers going to Sonics practices and hanging around players like Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson and Gus Williams.
It was Williams, in fact, who gave the youngster his own nickname, a la his father – Midtown. “I’ve been called Midtown my whole life,” Brown said with a smile.
Brown met his future wife Justina when he was playing at Edmonds CC – she was then on the women’s basketball team – and the couple lives in the Serene Lake area of Mukilteo with their two children, 11-year-old Katia and 7-year-old Fred Brown III. Justina Brown is the head girls basketball coach at Tulalip Heritage High School.
The elder Fred Brown (who could not be reached for comment for this story) once gave his son advice about coaching as a career.
“He told me not to do it,” Brown said, “because there’s no money involved, though in this day and age you can get paid if you make it to the right level.” Now, though, “he supports it and it makes him real proud.”
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