Brian Winters

This article is about the basketball coach. For the American football player, see Brian Winters (American football). For the American soccer player, see Brian Winters (soccer).

Brian Winters

Personal information
Born	(1952-03-01) March 1, 1952 Rockaway, New York
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Archbishop Molloy (Queens, New York)
College	South Carolina (1971–1974)
NBA draft	1974: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career	1974–1983
Position	Shooting guard / Small forward
Number	20, 32
Career history
As player:
1974–1975	Los Angeles Lakers
1975–1983	Milwaukee Bucks
As coach:
1984–1986	Princeton (assistant)
1986–1993	Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
1993–1995	Atlanta Hawks (assistant)
1995–1997	Vancouver Grizzlies
1997–1998	Denver Nuggets (assistant)
1999–2002	Golden State Warriors (assistant)
2001–2002	Golden State Warriors (interim)
2004–2007	Indiana Fever
2012–2013	Charlotte Bobcats (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (1976, 1978) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1975) No. 32 retired by Milwaukee Bucks
Career NBA statistics
Points	10,537 (16.2 ppg)
Rebounds	1,688 (2.6 rpg)
Assists	2,674 (4.1 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Brian Joseph Winters (born March 1, 1952) is an American former basketball player and coach. He attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York, graduating in 1970. He then played collegiately with the University of South Carolina and was the 12th pick in the 1974 NBA Draft, taken by the Los Angeles Lakers. He made the NBA All-Rookie Team with the Lakers, and was then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the trade that brought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers. He had a productive nine-year career that included two appearances in the NBA All-Star Game and playing on six playoffs teams. Winters averaged 16.2 points and 4.1 assists over his career, with his best years coming from 1975 to 1979 when he averaged over 19 points and slightly less than 5 assists per game. His number 32 was retired by the Bucks. In a 2005 interview, Michael Jordan singled out Winters as the best "pure shooter" in history, claiming that "he had the most beautiful stroke of all the people whom [he could] think of."

After retiring from the NBA, Winters became an assistant coach for two years under legendary coach Pete Carril at Princeton. From there, he moved on to become an assistant coach under Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens with the Cleveland Cavaliers for 7 years and Atlanta Hawks for two more. Next, he was the inaugural coach for the Vancouver Grizzlies for a year and a half. Later, Winters coached with the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors. He was formerly the head coach of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, leading them to their first ever consecutive-year playoff appearances.

On October 26, 2007, Winters option wasn't picked up by the Indiana Fever, ending his four-year tenure with the club. He compiled a 78–58 record in the regular season to go with a 5–7 playoff record. He was a scout for the Indiana Pacers for several seasons until he was let go during the NBA lockout in August 2011. He spent the 2012–13 season as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Head coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	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
Vancouver	1995–96	82	15	67	.183	7th in Midwest	—	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
Vancouver	1996–97	43	8	35	.186	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Golden State	2001–02	59	13	46	.220	7th in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
Career		184	36	148	.196		—	—	—	—

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1974–75	L.A. Lakers	68	–	22.3	.443	–	.826	2.0	2.9	1.1	0.3	11.7
1975–76	Milwaukee	78	–	35.8	.464	–	.829	3.2	4.7	1.6	0.3	18.2
1976–77	Milwaukee	78	–	34.8	.498	–	.847	3.0	4.3	1.5	0.4	19.3
1977–78	Milwaukee	80	–	34.4	.463	–	.840	3.1	4.9	1.6	0.3	19.9
1978–79	Milwaukee	79	–	32.6	.493	–	.856	2.2	4.8	1.1	0.5	19.8
1979–80	Milwaukee	80	–	32.8	.479	.373	.860	2.8	4.5	1.3	0.4	16.2
1980–81	Milwaukee	69	–	25.7	.475	.353	.869	2.0	3.3	1.0	0.1	11.6
1981–82	Milwaukee	61	13	30.0	.501	.387	.788	2.8	4.1	0.9	0.1	15.9
1982–83	Milwaukee	57	12	23.9	.434	.324	.859	1.9	2.7	0.8	0.1	10.6
Career		650	25	30.7	.475	.363	.842	2.6	4.1	1.2	0.3	16.2
All-Star		2	1	15.0	.417	–	–	3.0	1.0	0.5	0.0	5.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1976	Milwaukee	3	–	42.0	.629	–	.800	2.3	5.0	1.7	0.7	27.3
1978	Milwaukee	9	–	33.9	.497	–	.741	3.3	6.4	1.3	0.9	20.4
1980	Milwaukee	7	–	38.3	.460	.429	1.000	3.0	5.3	1.6	0.0	15.9
1981	Milwaukee	7	–	25.9	.459	.333	.750	3.3	3.1	1.4	0.1	10.0
1982	Milwaukee	6	–	38.7	.494	.500	.833	2.5	4.7	1.3	0.2	16.8
1983	Milwaukee	9	–	26.7	.429	.273	.824	2.4	3.6	0.7	0.4	9.9
Career		41	–	33.0	.490	.396	.808	2.9	4.7	1.3	0.4	15.5

External links

• BasketballReference.com: Brian Winters (as coach)
• BasketballReference.com: Brian Winters (as player)