Brown succeeded Ray Scott when he was promoted from assistant to head coach of a Detroit Pistons team that was at 17–25 on January 26, 1976.

He then guided the team into the second round of the NBA playoffs where the Pistons lost to Golden State, four games to two.

The Pistons fired Brown on December 15, 1977, after a 9–15 start to the 1977–78 NBA season, replacing him with the team's 32-year-old general manager, Bob Kauffman, who went 29–29 as head coach.

In 1978, Brown was named head coach of the Tucson Gunners, a franchise in the newly formed Western Basketball Association (WBA).

The Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA were Brown's fourth team on which he had served under brother Larry, including the Indiana Pacers.

Brown has also served as an assistant coach for several other teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, and Atlanta Hawks.