OAKLAND, Calif. - Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and Niagara University alumnus Hubie Brown ('55) was a co-recipient of the 2017 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award announced by the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) on June 4.  Brown shares the honor with Al Attles, who was a player, coach and executive for the Philadelphia/Golden State Warriors.

"Coach Attles and Coach Brown have made gigantic and wide-ranging contributions to the NBA game and coaching profession over the last several decades. Their recognition as co-recipients of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award is well-deserved," said Dallas Mavericks Head Coach and National Basketball Coaches Association President Rick Carlisle.

The National Basketball Coaches Association's Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award honors the memory of Hall of Famer Chuck Daly, who over an outstanding NBA coaching career set a standard for integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion of NBA basketball.

This year's award recognizes the extraordinary contributions Al Attles and Hubie Brown have made to the sport throughout their NBA careers. Through building bodies of work that have had a positive and powerful impact on the NBA coaching profession. Attles and Brown have embodied the high standards and leadership philosophies that Coach Daly brought to the game.

Brown has coached at all levels of the game. He began his coaching career in 1955 at St. Mary's High School in Little Falls, New York. He spent nine years at the high school level before becoming an assistant coach for one year at the College of William and Mary in 1968. In 1969, he joined Duke University as an assistant coach for three seasons. Ironically, he and Chuck Daly served together at Duke as assistant coaches under Vic Bubas.

In 1972, Brown joined the NBA as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks under former Niagara University teammate Larry Costello ('54), where he worked with future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson.

After two seasons with the Bucks, Brown was given his first professional head coaching opportunity with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association. Brown led the Colonels to the franchise's first and only ABA Championship in 1975. When the ABA folded after the 1976 season, Brown returned to the NBA as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks where he won the first of his two NBA Coach of the Year honors in 1978. Brown led the Hawks to three playoff appearances in five years.

Brown continued his coaching career as the head coach of the New York Knicks from 1982-87. He led the Knicks to playoff appearances in 1983 and 1984. Brown returned to the sideline in the 2002-03 season as the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2003-04, Brown was named the NBA Coach of the Year and guided the Grizzlies to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor in 2005 and was also inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor in 2006. Brown has had an outstanding broadcasting career with CBS, TNT and ESPN. For his outstanding contributions to basketball as a member of the media, Brown was awarded the Basketball Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award in 2000.

"I am tremendously honored to be the co-recipient of the 2017 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award because of the significance and status of the award," said Coach Hubie Brown. "This is also a tremendous honor because of my relationship with Chuck Daly in the coaching fraternity as assistant coaches at Duke University and then into the ranks of professional basketball. This award is a major highlight in my coaching career."

Brown was a standout basketball and baseball player at Niagara from 1951-55. During his collegiate basketball career, his team went 74-39 overall and recorded a 14-2 record while playing as a ranked team. The Purple Eagles also went to three straight NIT Tournaments. Brown was inducted into the Niagara University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984 and inducted into the MAAC Basketball Hall of Fame Honor Roll in 2012.

The National Basketball Coaches Association Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award recipient(s) are selected annually by the Award Selection Committee. This committee is comprised of some of the most respected coaches and basketball executives in the game, including Bernie Bickerstaff, Billy Cunningham, Joe Dumars, Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, Donnie Walsh and Lenny Wilkens.

Prior recipients are K.C. Jones and Jerry Sloan (2016), Dick Motta (2015), Bernie Bickerstaff (2014), Bill Fitch (2013), Pat Riley (2012), Lenny Wilkens (2011), Tex Winter and Jack Ramsay (2010) and Tommy Heinsohn (2009).

About the NBCA: The National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) is the labor organization that represents basketball coaches in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1976 by legendary Boston Celtics player and coach, Tommy Heinsohn, the NBCA consists of all NBA Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches and alumni, and works closely with the NBA on all matters that pertain to the coaching profession.