The 39-year-old will step into the management role vacated by former chief executive Mark Rogers on November 21.
Brown was part of Otago Nuggets squads from the late '80s and was a regular fixture on the court during the mid '90s.
While he was modest about his playing days, describing himself "as part of the cog", Brown hopes his biggest impact will be made from the front office as the organisation's general manager.
"I've always looked for an opportunity to get back into basketball, initially as a [fitness] conditioner but that did not quite work out in a fulltime capacity," he said.
"So when this opportunity came up I was pretty excited."
Brown has a mighty challenge ahead.
BBO has done a good job developing the game at the grassroots level, but its shop window, the Otago Nuggets, have struggled to compete in the National Basketball League (NBL).
They lost all 18 games this year and finished last in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
In 2009, BBO opted not to enter a team in the NBL, citing an unwillingness to continue to prop up the cash-strapped franchise.
Getting the Nuggets back on track and establishing a winning culture is a priority for Brown.
"We have to make Otago a place where people want to come and play," he said.
"It is always difficult to get people to come down to a culture that they might perceive as not a winning one.
But there are good opportunities for players who might have to take a back seat to star players in other areas to come down and get some good game time down here and develop.
"Everyone wants to see them do well and it would help a lot of the things we are doing in other areas."
There were no easy answers but Brown said the way forward was to continue investing in development and work hard at retaining home-grown talent.
But in the short term, the franchise had to do a better job at putting experienced players around what would probably be a young and inexperienced playing roster.
The franchise had also chopped and changed coaches and players too often, and more consistency was needed, he said.
Brown, a physical education graduate from the University of Otago, retired from top-level basketball in the late '90s and had a stint teaching English in Japan.
When he returned from overseas, he was employed in teaching roles with the sports institute in Christchurch and Auckland, and also worked as a fitness manager in an Auckland gym.
He returned to Dunedin four years ago to take up the role of operations manager at the World Fitness Centre.
One of his first tasks will be to find replacements for former director of development Rachel Gwerder and competitions manager David Jenner.
Gwerder has joined partner Mark Rogers in Tauranga and Jenner has gone overseas.
Brown is married to former Silver Ferns shooter Jodi Brown.
The couple have a daughter, Kiana (almost 2), and are expecting their second child in January.
