Known for his accurate outside shooting, Brown was selected to the 1976 NBA All-Star Game and scored 14,018 points in his career.

Due to his outside shooting skills, his high school nickname "Downtown Freddie" Brown followed him for his entire career.

[3] Brown finished his senior year at the University of Iowa in 1971, averaging 27.6 points per game,[4] and was selected by the Kentucky Colonels in the American Basketball Association draft and selected 6th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1971 NBA draft.

Following Wilkens' trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1972, Brown saw more playing time and his scoring average rose to 13.5 and 16.5 points per game in the next two seasons.

Brown is one of five 1970s Seattle SuperSonics players whose names are featured on characters in "The Exterminator," the third episode of Season 1 of iZombie.