Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1952)

Not to be confused with Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1949).

Jim O'Brien

Head coach
Personal information
Date of birth	February 11, 1952 (1952-02-11)
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
High school	Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, PA)
Career information
College	St. Joseph's
Pro career	2001–present
Career history
As coach: Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals (1982-1987) Dayton Flyers (1989-1994) Boston Celtics (2001–2004) Philadelphia 76ers (2004–2005) Indiana Pacers (2007–2011)
Stats at NBA.com

Jim O'Brien (born February 11, 1952) is a former head coach in the National Basketball Association.

O'Brien is a Philadelphia native who attended Roman Catholic High School in his youth, and starred collegiately at St. Joseph's University. Before his stint in Philadelphia, O'Brien was the head coach of the Boston Celtics from 2001-2004, replacing Rick Pitino. He worked to rebuild the struggling Celtics and led them twice to the playoffs. During the 2003-04 NBA season, however, O'Brien consistently fought with Celtics' general manager Danny Ainge over short-term versus long-term goals. Ainge was looking to completely redo the roster, and traded Eric Williams and Tony Battie, two of O'Brien's favorite hardworking players in December 2003. As a result of the conflict, O'Brien shocked everyone in the Celtics community by resigning in January 2004.

O'Brien was also head coach at Wheeling Jesuit University from 1982–87 and the University of Dayton from 1989–94. He led the Dayton Flyers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his first season, after winning the Midwestern Collegiate Conference; however he led the Flyers to just 10 wins in his last two seasons at the school and was fired after the 1993-1994 season. O'Brien then served as an assistant coach to Rick Pitino at the University of Kentucky from 1994 to 1997 and then with the Boston Celtics from 1997 to 2001.

He was hired as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2004-05 NBA season. The 76ers made the playoffs in his one season as coach after missing the postseason the previous year, and although O'Brien had a multiyear contract, he was fired. Billy King hired Maurice Cheeks as head coach after Cheeks was fired by the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Indianapolis Star reported on May 31, 2007 that he would coach the Indiana Pacers. [1] He replaced Rick Carlisle, who was fired after four years, when the team failed in 2006-07 to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade. On January 31, 2011, Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird relieved O'Brien of his coaching duties. He was replaced by assistant Frank Vogel on an interim basis.

O'Brien was also an analyst for ESPN's NBA coverage from 2005-07. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland in 1981. He is the son-in-law of Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, and was coached at Saint Joseph's by another former NBA coach, Jack McKinney.

Coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss  %
Post season	PG	Playoff Games	PW	Playoff Wins	PL	Playoff Losses	PW–L %	Playoff Win-loss  %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
BOS	2000–01	48	24	24	.500	5th in Atlantic	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
BOS	2001–02	82	49	33	.598	2nd in Atlantic	16	9	7	.563	Lost in Conf. Finals
BOS	2002–03	82	44	38	.537	3rd in Atlantic	10	4	6	.400	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
BOS	2003–04	46	22	24	.478	(resigned)	—	—	—	—	—
PHI	2004–05	82	43	39	.524	2nd in Atlantic	5	1	4	.200	Lost in First Round
IND	2007–08	82	36	46	.439	3rd in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
IND	2008–09	82	36	46	.439	4th in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
IND	2009–10	82	32	50	.390	4th in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
IND	2010–11	44	17	27	.386	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Career		630	303	327	.481		31	14	17	.452

External links

• DatabaseBasketball.com: Jim O'Brien