PHILADELPHIA – When Larry Brown walks into the Wachovia Center it’s like he’s visiting royalty and the stream of pre-game visitors is nearly constant.

It is one of Brown’s quirks that he doesn’t find it at all odd to be the head coach of one NBA team while gushing about another.

“I live here,” Brown said before his Charlotte Bobcats took on the Sixers. “This owner (Ed Snider) has been… After I lost my job in New York he gave me a great opportunity to come back and stay involved. There are a lot of people I’m really fond of.”

And when Brown says he lives here, he means that literally. He has kept his Main Line home where his wife, Shelly, and their two children, L.J. and Madison, reside full time and Brown gets back as often as he can. On Christmas Eve, for example, Brown took a chartered jet from Charlotte to Philadelphia, and brought local players Matt Carroll and Sean Singletary with him.

It wasn’t his first trip back, either. He squeezes in visits whenever a break in the Bobcats’ schedule allows.

“They’ve always been good to us so it’s great coming back,” he said of the Sixers and the city. “Now we have a World Series Championship and maybe even a Super Bowl. It’s pretty neat.

“This franchise is an important part of my life. I had an unbelievable experience being part of it.”

BROWN ON DiLEO

Brown expressed his sympathy over the firing of Maurice Cheeks, to whom Brown was close.

But he also has a solid relationship with Tony DiLeo, who replaced Cheeks.

“Nobody’s been more loyal to this franchise than Tony,” Brown said. “He’s contributed in so many ways. I know when I was coaching here he was always somebody I could count on. He had great input about the draft. You hope it works out for everybody.”

For his part, DiLeo said he learned a lot about coaching from watching Brown during his six years in Philadelphia.

“He had a big influence on my coaching philosophy because his teams always play hard, they always play defense,” DiLeo said. “He’s a teacher. He sees things out on the court a lot of people don’t see. He pays attention to detail and makes sure things are right. Those are a lot of things we’re trying to do. We’re trying to be a great defensive team. We’re trying to play hard every night, pay attention to detail. That was Larry’s biggest influence on me.”

HOME COURT

Brown has another little quirk that he’s used for years. He’ll start players when the team goes to their hometown.

Friday night, that meant Carroll and Singletary started at guard.

“If you’ve got a guy on your team who does things the right way and you know he’s coming home and he’s got a lot of friends,” Brown said. “ I’m sure those two guys are using more tickets than anybody else. How many times do their friends and family get to see them play as starters. You’re just showing them you appreciate what they’re doing and what they’re about.”

The practice was adopted from Dean Smith, Brown’s coach at North Carolina.

“I always feel good about it,” he said. “I played for a coach that at the end of the game he’d take you out so you’d get a big hand. He tried to take kids to play in their hometowns. If they came to North Carolina he’d schedule games for them. I think anything you can do to show them you appreciate what they’ve done is helpful.”