Clifford,Brown Begin NBA Season Tonight

Maine's head coach connection to the NBA begin their seasons tonight - Steve Clifford and his Charlotte Hornets and Brett Brown in his Philadelphia 76'ers.

Brown, the former South Portland HS standout and son of longtime coach Bob Brown, begins his third year trying to rebuild the 76'ers. They take on the Celtics in tonight's opener.

Philly won only 18 games last season. They have added #3 draft Jahlil Okafor from Duke to go along with Nerlens Noel. But, injuries continue to haunt the team - Joel Embiid, Tony Wroten and Carl Landry are not going to play tonight.

Clifford, the former UMaine Farmington player and Woodland HS coach, begins his third season running the show in Charlotte. His Hornets are in Miami to play the Heat.

Charlotte won 33 games last season but have added Jeremy Lin, Nicholas Batum and #9 draft pick Frank Kaminsky.

Brown and Clifford's teams meet for the first time this season on November 20th.

NOTE:  Former UMaine Black Bear captain Jim Boylen is the associate head coach of the Chicago Bulls after spending the past two seasons as top assistant for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.