Scott Brooks is a National Basketball Association (NBA) coach who had a brilliant career as a player and played for six NBA teams, even though he was not drafted in the 1987 NBA Draft he had declared for. He also won the 1994 NBA title with the Houston Rickets.
His coaching career began in the smaller leagues before he debuted in the NBA as assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets. Today, after making a name for himself in the six seasons he spent at Oklahoma City Thunder, he has become a top coach in the league and now works as head coach of the Washington Wizards.
Scott Brooks Biography
Scott William Brooks was born on July 31, 1965, the son of Lee and George Brooks in the French camp in California. He was raised by his mother alone as his father George, left the family when he (Scott) was only two years old and never looked back. He grew up as the youngest of his six siblings, with his mother having to do almost three jobs to get food on the table for them. Scott Brooks attended East Union High School in Manteca, California, and fell in love with basketball, which he played in high school until he graduated in 1983.
He enrolled at Texas Christian University, where he spent a year before transferring to San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California for his second year and then again to the University of California, Irvine, where he graduated in 1987. Despite his frequent transfers, Scott still found time to play basketball during his college year. As a freshman at Texas Christian University, he teamed up with the Horned Frogs, the men’s basketball team at TCU, and began his college career.
In his second season, he played on the basketball team at San Joaquin Delta College, and when he transferred to the University of California, he continued playing in his junior and senior seasons before joining the NBA Draft after graduating in 1987.
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Career
Scott Brooks dreamed of a successful NBA career that would begin with his selection through an NBA franchise in the 1987 NBA Draft in which he participated. He couldn’t have imagined it any other way; it was the only path he could follow to become a basketball star. So you can imagine how confused he was when he appeared as an undeveloped agent at the conclusion of the draft.
However, he was recruited as a point guard by the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in the second round of the 1987 CBA draft, and after leading the Patroons to league victory in his rookie season, he was to return to his dream path in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1988. In his NBA career, he also played for the Minnesota Timberwolves (again with his coach in the Albany Patroons, Bill Musselman, 1990-92), the Houston Rockets (1992-95), the Dallas Mavericks (1995-96), the New York Knicks (1996-97), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (1997-98).
An injury to his right knee in 1998 was the reason why he did not play for a 7th NBA team because although he was signed by the Los Angeles Clippers for the 1998-99 season, he never played a single game for them due to his injury. In 2000 he joined the Los Angeles Stars of the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA), and in 1994 he won his only NBA championship title with the Rockets.
His role in the ABA league was a double one, as he was also assistant coach of the Los Angeles Star, and so began his coaching career. He coached another ABA team, Southern California Surf, before returning to the NBA in 2013 as assistant coach to the Denver Nuggets. After three years with the Nuggets, Brooks joined the Sacramento Kings in 2016, where he was still an assistant coach and worked with them for a year before moving to Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) to work under P.J. Carlesimo at the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
Scott Brooks got his first job as head coach (at Oklahoma City Thunder) when he replaced Carlesimo on an interim basis. Carlesimo was laid off in 2008 and after the 2008/09 season, Scott was appointed permanent coach of The Thunder. He led the team (which boasted Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrooks) to the playoffs as permanent head coach in his rookie season (2009-10) after a season of 50 wins and earned him the NBA Coach of the Year award that season. He also led the Thunder to the 2012 NBA finals but lost to the Miami Heat.
In 2012, he was awarded an $18 million multi-year contract, but after missing the playoffs for the first time (in six full seasons) since taking over as head coach, Scott Brooks was shown the door in 2015 – a move that shook the NBA. But he goes down in the history of the Oklahoma City Thunder as one of the best coaches (in terms of victory rate) the NBA has ever had.
Despite the fact that a number of clubs approached him and tried to get his signature, Scott Brooks decided instead to take a one-year break and spend time with his family. He returned in 2016 and was signed by the Washington Wizards for the 2016-17 season under a $35 million five-year contract.
Who is Scott Brooks’ Wife? Daughter, Family
The head coach of the Washington Wizards is married to his high school sweetheart, Sherry Silvey. They had met at Eastern Union High School in California, where they both attended high school and remained friends until they married on January 27, 1993. The wedding took place on a beach – Pebble Beach – in the presence of family and friends before they flew to Europe for their honeymoon.
The couple has two children; a son named Chance Brooks, who studied at the University of South Carolina, and a daughter, Lexi Brooks.
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Other Facts
Scott Brooks’ mother, Lee Brooks, died of stage 4 cancer in 2013 at the age of 79 years.
His father, George Brooks, was a salesman. Although he left the family, he tried to shake Scott’s hand when he turned 18, but young Scott rejected the attempt – something he regrets today as his father is no longer alive.
Scott’s net worth is estimated at $10 million. However, his contract with the Washington Wizards is worth $35 million and his salary is a whopping $7 million a year.
Brooks is known to wear three bracelets on his wrists, which he says represents every member of his family – his wife and two children.
His body measurements are as follows: Height: 5 feet (1.80 m) and weight: 165 lb (75 kg).
He is said to look like Marty Seamus McFly; a fictional character from the series “Back to the Future”.
Scott Brooks was inducted into the University of California’s Hall of Fame in 2001.
