By Jeff Lipton
As Brown's longtime agent, close friend and confidant, Glass, 80, wanted to ensure that Brown would be comfortable with the way the contract talks progressed, and he became an integral part of the negotiations. "The negotiations took place during the last several weeks, and we made it happen," said Glass.
Thanks in part to Glass, Brown will become the 22nd head coach in Knicks history, following in the footsteps of the late Red Holzman of Cedarhurst, who coached the Knicks to two NBA championships in the early 1970s, the last time the team won titles. Brown has mentioned that one of the things he remembers most about the area is playing basketball with Holzman at the Number Five School playground in Cedarhurst.
Brown, who coached the Detroit Pistons to an NBA championship last year and to the NBA finals this season, will be returning to his roots. Fans will expect him to revive a Knicks franchise that has fallen on hard times in recent years.
Glass said that Brown, 65, had not expected to be coaching the Knicks in 2005-06. "He wanted to continue coaching Detroit, but they fired him," said Glass.
Brown reportedly had a falling out with Pistons owner William Davidson, who, according to published reports, said he believed that Brown and Glass orchestrated the coach's departure from the Pistons after only two years. Glass called the accusation "a false assumption that is ridiculous." Brown signed a buy-out agreement with the Pistons.
The Knicks contacted Brown about the coaching job on July 19 - about an hour after the Pistons let him go - and he was hired on July 28. Glass said that Brown talked it over with his wife, Shelly, and they decided that returning to New York to coach the Knicks would be ideal. Knicks President Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan, who also owns the Knicks, met separately with Brown during the negotiations.
"I think he feels that he made a good decision for him and his family," Glass said. "It's a good arrangement, and a great step for him." Glass added that Brown has never left a team before making it significantly better. He has also coached the Philadelphia 76ers, among other NBA teams.
Glass refused to discuss the monetary logistics of Brown's Knicks deal, the contract or the agent's percentage, saying, "I don't talk about things like that, absolutely not."
Glass said he has been Brown's agent for almost 40 years, since Brown's days as a player for the New Orleans Buccaneers of the old American Basketball Association, and has known him for close to 50 years. It is obvious that their relationship goes well beyond that of an agent and coach. "He's been a very big part of our lives," Glass said of Brown. "It's a family relationship. He's part of our family. His children call my wife of 59 years, Corinne, Grandma, and me Grandpa."
Glass has lived in Woodmere for almost 50 years, having been lured to the area by the inexpensive homes and remained there so his children could attend District 14 schools. "When we first moved out here, we wanted to live in District 14, which is a great school district," he said. "It's a very, very nice area."
All three of his children graduated from Hewlett High. Brent, 58, is a director of the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute; Keith, 54, is an attorney and sports agent in New Jersey; and Jodi, 51, is a doctor of audiology in Rhode Island. Glass also has six grandchildren.
He said he first met Brown when Brown was a 17-year-old camp counselor for Brent Glass at Camp Keeyumah in Pennsylvania, and the friendship developed from there. "He was a good player, a good kid and he became a good coach from the beginning," Glass said.
He described Brown as a "straightforward, right-to-the-point type of guy. He was always very sympathetic with people's problems."
Of his career as an agent, Glass said, "I started out by helping people who were just starting out. I told them how to buy a car and how to open a bank account, and I developed an agent relationship with them from there." Eventually, players - one after another - sought his advice and guidance, he said.
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