Outgoing Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis helped set up Brett Brown takeover

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis could see the writing on the wall as the boss of the Boomers, and helped set up Brett Brown for the job. Here’s everything we know so far.

• The toxic relationships that hurt Lemanis
• Boomers drop coaching bombshell before Tokyo

OUTGOING Australian coach Andrej Lemanis fell on the sword that he forged himself with Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown to take over the Boomers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Reports from the US dropped the bombshell overnight saying Basketball Australia was in the final throes of negotiations with Brown who was Boomers head coach at the 2012 London Olympics when Lemanis was his assistant.

Live stream selected games of the 2019/20 NBL Season with ESPN on KAYO with your TV, Mobile, Tablet or Laptop. Get your 14 day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Basketball Australia, Lemanis and Brown declined to comment when contacted yesterday.

But Brown will be the Boomers head coach at the Tokyo Olympics after it is believed that Lemanis first raised the possibility of the transition two years ago.

Head coach of the Boomers Andrej Lemanis talks to his players. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

Official confirmation could come as early as Thursday but The Courier-Mail understands:

• Lemanis initiated the process to bring Brown back as Boomers coach a couple of years ago.

• The collaborative discussions with Lemanis, Brown and Basketball Australia gathered pace after the Boomers finished fourth at the FIBA World Cup this year.

• Lemanis has always preached a team-first attitude with the national team and believes it is in the best interests of the Boomers if he hands over to Brown who will be a better chance of winning a medal in Tokyo.

• Given the large number of NBA players in the first-choice Boomers team, an NBA-based head coach would be a better fit for the squad.

• An Australian-based coach will guide the Boomers in qualifying games with NBL-based players.

Brett Brown looks likely to take over the Boomers job. Picture: AP Photo/Matt Slocum

“At this time, no comment will be made about the speculation on the Australian Boomers coaching position,’’ a BA employee told The Courier-Mail.

It is understood a formal press conference featuring Brown and Lemanis was pencilled in for next week but the report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski blew Basketball Australia’s plans out of the water.

Brown handed over the Boomers reins to Lemanis in 2013.

In his tenure as national coach, Lemanis won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2017 Asia Cup and took the Boomers to their current ranking of third in the world – an all-time high.

But he finished fourth at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2019 FIBA World Cup to continue the medal drought for the men’s team at major tournaments.

The Business of Basketball 101 😬

— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) November 20, 2019

In a cryptic tweet posted at lunchtime yesterday as Basketball Australia dragged their feet on confirming the coach change, Boomers centre Andrew Bogut wrote, “The Business of Basketball 101”.

When asked at 76ers practice yesterday about the possibility of being Boomers coach again Brown told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “it’s stuff that I prefer not to talk right now about. Fair question, though.”

Earlier this year, Brown said he did not have to the time to coach the Boomers again.

His appointment is a significant boost to Australia’s hopes of having emerging superstar Ben Simmons play for the Boomers in Tokyo after he – and 76ers teammate Jonah Bolden – pulled out of the squad before the World Cup.