Del Harris
Delmer (Del) William Harris (born June 18, 1937 in Plainfield, Indiana) was an assistant coach for the New Jersey Nets. He has served as an assistant coach for the NBA's Chicago Bulls. He also served as an NBA head coach for the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Lakers.
In 1992, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievements and contributions to basketball.[1]
United States
Harris is a graduate of Milligan College in northeast Tennessee, where his basketball career landed him in the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Early in his career Harris was coach at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana before entering professional ranks in 1975 as an assistant coach for the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association, under head coach Tom Nissalke. When that franchise folded, Nissalke and Harris were hired as head and assistant coach, respectively for the NBA's Houston Rockets. When Nissalke was let go by the club, Harris was asked to take over head coaching duties. Harris led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in the 1981 season, where they were defeated by the Boston Celtics four games to two. Don Nelson brought Harris to Milwaukee as his assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks team, where he later became head coach and, later, also General Manager.
After his stint with the Bucks, Harris became head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, winning NBA Coach of the Year honors in '94-'95. The Lakers fired Harris after leading them to a 6–6 start at the beginning of the lockout-shortened 1998–1999 season.
A few seasons later found Harris as assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks, once again under head coach Don Nelson, and formerly under head coach Avery Johnson, he stepped aside from coaching after the 2006 season, but stayed on with the Mavs as consultant. A native of Plainfield, Indiana, he is the father of former Bucks general manager Larry Harris.
On July 3, 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported that Harris agreed to become an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls along with former Charlotte Bobcats head coach Bernie Bickerstaff and longtime NBA assistant Bob Ociepka. Along with Bickerstaff and Ociepka, Harris is expected to help establish a veteran presence on the coaching staff and help rookie head coach Vinny Del Negro.[2]
In June 2009, it was reported that Harris would step down as assistant coach to the Bulls, and retire after a career spanning 50 years. [1]
On November 30, 2009, it was announced that Harris would be the top assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets.
On February 2, 2010, it was confirmed that the Pistons-Nets game would be the last game he would coach for the Nets, as he will retire after the game. Coach Kiki Vandeweghe tried to talk him out of retirement, but the talks have apparently failed. Harris had asked Rod Thorn to let him be Head Coach. When Thorn refused, Harris quit.
International
Harris coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico’s National Superior League (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record and winning three national championships (1973-75).
He was an assistant coach under Rudy Tomjanovich with the US national team in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.[3]
Harris also served as coach of the Chinese national men's team, where he coached NBA All-Star center Yao Ming and led China to a surprising upset victory over Serbia and Montenegro in the 2004 Athens Olympic basketball tournament.
Prior to becoming the Lakers' head coach Harris was also a special consultant of Canadian national men's basketball team and their then head coach Ken Shields.
Coaching record
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 1979–80 | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | 2nd in Central | 7 | 2 | 5 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| Houston | 1980–81 | 82 | 40 | 42 | .561 | 2nd in Midwest | 21 | 12 | 9 | Lost in NBA Finals | |
| Houston | 1981–82 | 82 | 46 | 36 | .561 | 2nd in Midwest | 3 | 1 | 2 | Lost in First Round | |
| Houston | 1982–83 | 82 | 14 | 68 | .171 | 6th in Midwest | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs | |
| Milwaukee | 1987–88 | 82 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 4th in Central | 5 | 2 | 3 | Lost in First Round | |
| Milwaukee | 1988–89 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 4th in Central | 9 | 3 | 6 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| Milwaukee | 1989–90 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 3rd in Central | 4 | 1 | 3 | Lost in First Round | |
| Milwaukee | 1990–91 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Central | 3 | 0 | 3 | Lost in First Round | |
| Milwaukee | 1991–92 | 17 | 8 | 9 | .471 | (resigned) | — | — | — | — | |
| L.A. Lakers | 1994–95 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Pacific | 10 | 5 | 5 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| L.A. Lakers | 1995–96 | 82 | 53 | 29 | .646 | 2nd in Pacific | 4 | 1 | 3 | Lost in First Round | |
| L.A. Lakers | 1996–97 | 82 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 2nd in Pacific | 9 | 4 | 5 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| L.A. Lakers | 1997–98 | 82 | 61 | 21 | .744 | 1st in Pacific | 13 | 7 | 6 | Lost in Conference Finals | |
| L.A. Lakers | 1998–99 | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | |
| Career | 1013 | 556 | 457 | .549 | 88 | 38 | 50 |
References
- ^ http://hoopshall.com/hall/h/delmar-harris/
- ^ K.C. Johnson (2008-07-03). "Bulls focus on own". Chicago Tribune.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ 1998 USA Basketball
External links
- 1937 births
- Living people
- BSN coaches
- Dallas Mavericks coaches
- Houston Rockets head coaches
- Los Angeles Lakers head coaches
- Milwaukee Bucks executives
- Milwaukee Bucks coaches
- Milwaukee Bucks head coaches
- National Basketball Association head coaches
- Utah Stars coaches
- People from Hendricks County, Indiana
- Earlham College faculty
- Chicago Bulls coaches