76ers leave Brown in limbo following crushing Game 7 loss

Brett Brown survived a 10-win season to steer the Philadelphia 76ers toward the top of the Eastern Conference. Brown’s chances of returning for a seventh season as coach are on the rocks following back-to-back 50-win campaigns.

So it goes in Philly, where patience with the Process has worn thin. The Sixers — who rebuilt their roster with two blockbuster trades — were knocked out of the Eastern Conference semifinal for the second straight season.

Kawhi Leonard sank the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history and Toronto struck its biggest dagger in the sports heart of Philadelphia since Joe Carter went deep for the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series.

Joel Embiid walked off in tears, his girlfriend cradling the face of the crestfallen 7-footer.

Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and JJ Redick are headed into free agency, a max contract likely looming for Butler.

Brown appears in limbo, and the should-he-stayshould-he-go decision will be the most crucial one yet for first-year general manager Elton Brand. Long championed by ownership and the front office, team owner Josh Harris for the first time put public pressure on Brown to at least reach the East final. And at an impromptu press conference before the start of the playoffs, Harris refused to say if Brown would return and offered only a lukewarm endorsement of his performance. Brown endured the growing pains of the rebuild but his time to finish the Process may have expired.

“What he’s done for this organization is nothing short of remarkable,” Redick said Monday. “I would just say this in general, for any NBA team, when you think about a coach, and potentially replacing that coach, you have to consider what coaches are available. I don’t feel it necessary to defend Brett to anyone. I think his work speaks for itself.”

Like Redick, Brown’s players have never shied away from expressing their admiration and confidence in Brown. Brown never cracked at the pressure or sniped at the media as he became the public face of the franchise through the early years of the Process. He outlasted general managers Sam Hinkie and Bryan Colangelo and turned the team into conference contenders even as expected cornerstones Markelle Fultz, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and others flamed out. Only six NBA coaches have longer active tenures with one team than Brown does in Philadelphia.

“I don’t think he should have anything to worry about,” Embiid said. “If there’s someone to blame, put it all on me.”