`THINGS HAVE A WAY OF WORKING OUT' FROM WESTWOOD TO SOUTH PHILLY, BROWN'S RIDE HAS BEEN FINE WITH HIM.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

PHILADELPHIA - On the whole, Larry Brown would rather be here, coaching the Philadelphia 76ers against the Lakers in his first NBA Finals.

But on the many days when his soul wanders, he finds himself in Westwood, Calif., again 40 years old and shaggy-haired.

``I have a `UCLA Basketball' shirt in my closet that I almost wore today,'' Brown said Tuesday morning, a twinkle in the sad eyes behind his designer glasses. ``Probably as good an experience as I ever had was coaching there and living there. I probably should have never left.

``But I wouldn't have met my wife (if he'd stayed). And I wouldn't be sitting here with this experience. So things have a way of working out.''

Brown was an underpaid UCLA employee for two not-so-lucrative seasons, and 20 years and five jobs have come and gone since he quit. Yet the bond remains, forged by the memory of an emotional coach leading a team featuring four freshmen and a 6-foot-5 center to the NCAA final against Louisville.

``He talks about it all the time,'' said Herb Brown, an assistant coach and scout with his brother's 76ers, who practiced at Pauley Pavilion before games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles. ``He still communicates with those kids, he still loves the town and he still loves the school, because (it) has glitter, but it's not pompous glitter backed by big money into the program and stuff.

``He had two college jobs he really liked. He won a national championship at Kansas (1988). But his first real college coaching job was UCLA. It's like your first love.''

Because he left the Bruins on NCAA probation for an accumulation of infractions and backed out of an agreement to come back in 1988 as the campus prepared for a reintroductory news conference, Brown occupies a not entirely warm spot in the hearts of UCLA administrators.

UCLA fans, on the other hand, pine for him the way old Democrats still dream of a Ted Kennedy presidential run.

When Steve Lavin was being roasted last winter and Rick Pitino portrayed as the Bruin faithful's dream catch, those with long memories knew it's actually Brown who represents the closest thing to Camelot this side of John Wooden.

It is a mutual longing that never will be fulfilled.

``They've got a fine coach there,'' Brown said after the 76ers' practice Tuesday. And even if Lavin didn't appear secure for now, even if UCLA officials would swallow their pride, Brown is 61 and acknowledging thoughts of retirement.

Which means his career could end this week. The 76ers trail the Lakers 2-1 in the best-of-seven NBA Finals going into games here tonight and Friday.

Brown's health has been a concern the past two years, when his vacation-time job as a U.S. Olympic coach, his effort to make friends with 76ers star Allen Iverson, the pressure turned up by the team's hot start this season and criticism over the trade for Dikembe Mutombo have tested his talent for internalizing any problem.

Nevertheless, those who know him believe retirement is just talk.

``A summer on the beach in Malibu and those batteries will be recharged,'' said Pat Croce, the energetic 76ers president who hired Brown in 1997.

Said Kevin Loughery, the former coach who has been a rival since both coached in the ABA in the 1970s: ``This won't be his last year coaching basketball. I think he'd miss it tremendously. He might take a year off, but ... Larry is an unbelievably fierce competitor.''

Said brother Herb: ``I think it'll be very hard for him to give it up. He'll pass a playground and want to stop and work with some kids.''

Whenever it ends, it will have been a one-of-a-kind career that includes records in basketball and maybe the real-estate industry as well.

The numbers include:

--28 seasons as a pro or college coach (without a season off).

--24 winning seasons.

--Seven pro teams in four time zones (Carolina Cougars, Denver Rockets/Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers and 76ers).

--First-season won-lost improvements for five of the six NBA teams he took over.

--Playoff appearances with an NBA-record six franchises.

--732 regular-season NBA victories, 10th on the all-time coaching list.

--60.5 percent wins in the NBA, ABA and NCAA combined.

--He was a smaller-than-Iverson guard with the 1964 U.S. Olympic gold-medal team and as an ABA All-Star.

--And, this season, he was voted NBA Coach of the Year for the first time, honoring perhaps his most rewarding pro season.

``You've got to be careful when you say this, because everybody thinks it's whining, but when you consider what we've been through this year ... this has been the most remarkable year I've ever experienced,'' Brown said, referring to the injuries that continue to limit the 76ers. ``I hate to go into the dressing room after a game and get the medical report. I don't know how much we have left.''

Even pain-free, these 76ers, led by a rapper averaging 33 shots and 20 misses a game in the NBA Finals, would be a headache for a man schooled in traditional ways at North Carolina.

``He's always got one hand on his team,'' said Ron Harper, the Lakers guard who contrasts his old Clippers coach's personal touch with Phil Jackson's laid-back approach.

Brown might have sprinted out the First Union Center door months ago if the perfectionist image his job-hopping history has created were strictly accurate.

``I think everybody's looking for the best situation, seeking to be the best at (their profession),'' said Brown, whose four seasons in Philadelphia match his longest NBA tenure. ``I might have fallen short in a lot of cases, but it wasn't because I wasn't trying.

``A lot of decisions I've made (to move on) have been for personal reasons, not whether my job was perfect or not,'' said the twice-married father of five. ``I've always thought I made the place better than when I got there. I never shortchanged anybody. If I had it to do over again, I might have made some silly decisions. But it's turned out pretty well.''

Behind in the series after three stomach-churning games and second- guessed for benching Mutombo to go with a smaller lineup late in Sunday's defeat, Brown doesn't get to enjoy the underdog role as much as the Philly fans do.

Sympathetic rivals root for him, realizing he might never win an NBA title.

``He is truly one of the great coaches ever to coach the game. He enjoys the teaching part of it more than any other coach in the league,'' Loughery said. ``It's not going to be a knock against Larry Brown if he doesn't win a championship.''

If this is it for Brown, remember him as the best teacher a young basketball player could ever want or as the best friend U-Haul ever had.

Or do as they do in Westwood, and remember him as the guy who isn't coaching at UCLA, where he belongs.

NBA FINALS: GAME 4

--Where: First Union Center

--When: Today, 6 p.m.

--TV: Ch. 4

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Larry Brown's progress with Allen Iverson is just one reason why he is considered one of the best coaches in basketball history.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(2) Larry Brown has had success wherever he has coached, and it's no different with Philadelphia.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box: NBA FINALS: GAME 4 (see text)