- Del Harris
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For the English squash player, see Del Harris (squash player).
Del Harris
Delmer (Del) William Harris (born June 18, 1937) is a basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. He was an assistant coach for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Dallas Mavericks. He also served as an NBA head coach for the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Lakers.
Contents
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.
Harris was assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks from 2000 to 2007.[1]
Harris is a 1955 graduate of Plainfield High School (Indiana) in Plainfield, Indiana, a school with rich basketball tradition. He was one of the first inductees into Plainfield High School's Hall of Fame.
He has four sons (Larry, Alex, Stan and Dominic) and one daughter (Carey). All of his children played basketball at the collegiate level (Eastern New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico, University of North Texas, Dallas Baptist University, and Marquette University respectively). He is the father of former Bucks general manager Larry Harris and comedian Dominic 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 was 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.[3]
On November 30, 2009, it was announced that Harris would be the top assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets.
On October 3, 2011, it was announced that Harris would be the new head coach for the Dallas Mavericks' NBA Development League affiliate the Texas Legends.[4]
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. The team was handicapped by only using college players as there was a lockout in the NBA.[5]
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. The team finished 5th in the 1994 World Games in Toronto.
In the fall of 2011, Harris assisted coach John Calipari with the Dominican Republic national team. They won bronze in the Cup of Americas pre-Olympic trial tournament in Argentina (the first major basketball medal in the Dominic Republic's history).
Coaching record
Legend Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L% Win-loss % Post season PG Games coached PW Games won PL Games lost PW–L% Win-loss % Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result HOU 1979–80 82 41 41 .500 2nd in Central 7 2 5 .286 Lost in Conf. Semifinals HOU 1980–81 82 40 42 .561 2nd in Midwest 21 12 9 .571 Lost in NBA Finals HOU 1981–82 82 46 36 .561 2nd in Midwest 3 1 2 .333 Lost in First Round HOU 1982–83 82 14 68 .171 6th in Midwest — — — — Missed Playoffs MIL 1987–88 82 42 40 .512 4th in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round MIL 1988–89 82 49 33 .598 4th in Central 9 3 6 .333 Lost in Conf. Semifinals MIL 1989–90 82 44 38 .537 3rd in Central 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round MIL 1990–91 82 48 34 .585 3rd in Central 3 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round MIL 1991–92 17 8 9 .471 (resigned) — — — — — LAL 1994–95 82 48 34 .585 3rd in Pacific 10 5 5 .500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals LAL 1995–96 82 53 29 .646 2nd in Pacific 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round LAL 1996–97 82 56 26 .683 2nd in Pacific 9 4 5 .444 Lost in Conf. Semifinals LAL 1997–98 82 61 21 .744 1st in Pacific 13 7 6 .538 Lost in Conf. Finals LAL 1998–99 12 6 6 .500 (fired) — — — — — Career 1013 556 457 .549 88 38 50 .432 Awards
Harris was inducted into the Plainfield High School (Indiana) Hall of Fame, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame,[6] and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.[1]
References
- ^ a b Del Harris, NBA
- ^ K.C. Johnson (2008-07-03). "Bulls focus on own". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-03-bulls-bits-chicagojul03,0,110627.story.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Eddie Sefko (2011-10-03). "Former Mavericks assistant Del Harris to coach Texas Legends". The Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20111003-former-mavericks-assistant-del-harris-to-coach-texas-legends.ece.
- ^ 1998 USA Basketball
- ^ http://hoopshall.com/hall/h/delmar-harris/
External links
- Biography at hoopshall.com
- Del Harris bio on NBA.com
- RememberTheABA.com page on Utah Stars, including Harris' season as their assistant coach
- Profile of Harris
- Del Harris basketball-reference page
Preceded by
Tom NissalkeHouston Rockets head coach
1979–1983Succeeded by
Bill FitchPreceded by
Don NelsonMilwaukee Bucks head coach
1987–1991Succeeded by
Frank Hamblen (interim)NBA Coach of the Year Award 1963: Gallatin | 1964: Hannum | 1965: Auerbach | 1966: Schayes | 1967: Kerr | 1968: Guerin | 1969: Shue | 1970: Holzman | 1971: Motta | 1972: Sharman | 1973: Heinsohn | 1974: R. Scott | 1975: P. Johnson | 1976: Fitch | 1977: Nissalke | 1978: H. Brown | 1979: Fitzsimmons | 1980: Fitch | 1981: McKinney | 1982: Shue | 1983: Nelson | 1984: Layden | 1985: Nelson | 1986: Fratello | 1987: Schuler | 1988: Moe | 1989: Fitzsimmons | 1990: Riley | 1991: Chaney | 1992: Nelson | 1993: Riley | 1994: Wilkens | 1995: Harris | 1996: Jackson | 1997: Riley | 1998: Bird | 1999: Dunleavy | 2000: Rivers | 2001: L. Brown | 2002: Carlisle | 2003: Popovich | 2004: H. Brown | 2005: D'Antoni | 2006: A. Johnson | 2007: Mitchell | 2008: B. Scott | 2009: M. Brown | 2010: Brooks | 2011: ThibodeauHouston Rockets Formerly the San Diego Rockets • Founded in 1967 • Based in Houston, Texas The Franchise Franchise • Team History • Expansion Draft • All-Time roster • Seasons • Records • Draft history • Head coaches • Current seasonArenas San Diego Sports Arena • Hofheinz Pavilion • HemisFair Arena • The Summit/Compaq Center • Toyota CenterCulture and Lore Head Coaches NBA Championships (2) Western Conference
Titles (4)Division Titles (4) Administration Retired Jerseys Most Valuable Players Hall of Famers D-League Affiliate Rivals Los Angeles Lakers • Utah Jazz • San Antonio Spurs • Dallas MavericksMedia TVKTXH • Fox Sports HoustonRadioAnnouncersBill Worrell • Clyde Drexler • Matt Bullard • Craig AckermanMilwaukee Bucks Founded in 1968 • Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Franchise Arenas Coaches General Managers D-League Affiliate Administration Retired Numbers Hall of Famers NBA Championships (1) Mascot Media TV: Fox Sports Wisconsin • Radio: WTMJ-AM • Announcers: Jim Paschke • Jon McGlocklin • Ted Davis • Dennis KrauseLos Angeles Lakers head coaches John Kundla (1948–1958) • George Mikan (1958) • John Kundla (1958–1959) • John Castellani (1959–1960) • Jim Pollard (1960) • Fred Schaus (1960–1967) • Butch van Breda Kolff (1967–1969) • Joe Mullaney (1969–1971) • Bill Sharman (1971–1976) • Jerry West (1976–1979) • Jack McKinney (1979) • Paul Westhead (1979–1981) • Pat Riley (1981–1990) • Mike Dunleavy, Sr. (1990–1992) • Randy Pfund (1992–1994) • Bill Bertka# (1994) • Magic Johnson# (1994) • Del Harris (1994–1999) • Bill Bertka# (1999) • Kurt Rambis# (1999) • Phil Jackson (1999–2004) • Rudy Tomjanovich (2004–2005) • Frank Hamblen# (2005) • Phil Jackson (2005–2011) • Mike Brown (2011–present)
(#) denotes interim head coach.China squad – 2004 Summer Olympics – 8th place Categories:- 1937 births
- Living people
- BSN coaches
- Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches
- Houston Rockets head coaches
- Los Angeles Lakers head coaches
- Milwaukee Bucks executives
- Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches
- Milwaukee Bucks head coaches
- National Basketball Association head coaches
- Utah Stars coaches
- People from Hendricks County, Indiana
- Earlham College faculty
- Chicago Bulls assistant coaches
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