Marc Iavaroni
Marcus Iavaroni | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 15, 1956 |
| Occupation(s) | Former professional basketball player, basketball coach |
| Years active | 1974–2013 |
| Known for | Head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, NBA assistant coach |
Marcus John Iavaroni (born September 15, 1956) is a former American professional basketball athlete and previously served as head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Throughout his career, he has also held assistant coaching positions with several NBA franchises.
During the 1970s, Iavaroni distinguished himself at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School before competing at the collegiate level for Virginia between 1974 and 1978. Following four seasons playing basketball in Europe, he entered the NBA at age 26 and became an important contributor to the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers championship squad, starting in 77 regular-season contests. In the 1983 NBA Finals, he posted averages of 5.8 points and 5.5 rebounds over a four-game sweep. He subsequently played with the San Antonio Spurs, achieving personal bests of 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds during the 1985 season, and concluded his NBA playing career with the Utah Jazz.
Iavaroni’s professional career overseas included time in Italy and Spain, with engagements in Brescia, Forlì, and Málaga. In total, he spent six seasons abroad—four prior to his NBA stint and two following it.
After retiring as a player, Iavaroni transitioned into coaching, initially taking on a graduate assistant role at the University of Virginia. Between 1992 and 1994, he worked as an assistant coach at Bowling Green State University. His NBA coaching journey began in 1997 when he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as an assistant focusing on player development. In 1999, he moved into the front office of the Miami Heat as director of player development before serving as an assistant coach under Mike D'Antoni with the Phoenix Suns from 2002 until 2006.
On May 30, 2007, Iavaroni was named head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies but was relieved of his duties on January 22, 2009, following an 11–30 start to that season. He then accepted an assistant coaching position with the Toronto Raptors in June 2009 and later joined the Los Angeles Clippers staff under Vinny Del Negro in July 2010, remaining there until 2013.
Head coaching record
|- | align="left" |Memphis | align="left" | |82||22||60||.268|| align="center" |5th in Southwest Division||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Did not qualify for playoffs |- | align="left" |Memphis | align="left" | |41||11||30||.268|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||— | align="center" |— |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" |Overall | ||123||33||90||.268|| ||—||—||—||—