In April 2012, the state, according to court documents provided to USA TODAY Sports, took the boys away from their mother, who was unable to properly care for them and put them in the care of an aunt. Efforts to reach Brown’s mother were unsuccessful.
“They come from the most horrific situation you could imagine,” Lipman said. “The judge said he had never seen a worse case.”
By early 2013, they “ran away” from their aunt, Brown said, and started staying with Lipman, a divorced 46-year-old father, and Jacob. In May 2013, their aunt said she was no longer willing to care for the children, according to court documents, and they were placed in Lipman’s care temporarily. Six months later, he was named legal guardian for the brothers.
“I was jumping up and down like a frog that day,” Brown said.
Clayton, a 7-footer like his brother, stayed at the house in Coconut Grove and played for Coral Gables High. But, Lipman said, Clayton lacked his brother’s discipline and is now 18 and living on his own, no longer playing ball.
Zach Brown, on the other hand, became a sponge. Before meeting Lipman, Brown said he had been given medication because of his hyperactivity and had been placed in special education classes.
“The medicine made my brain slow,” Brown said. “I felt like a zombie.”