Mike Dunleavy Sr.
Michael Dunleavy Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 21, 1954 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Basketball player, coach, executive |
| Years active | 1976–1990 (player), 1987–2010 (coach/executive), 2016–2019 (college coach) |
| Known for | NBA player, head coach of Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers; head coach at Tulane University |
Michael Joseph Dunleavy Sr. (born March 21, 1954) is a retired American professional basketball athlete, coach, and former general manager for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Most recently, he served as the head coach for the Tulane University men's basketball program. Dunleavy is also the father of former professional player Mike Dunleavy Jr..
Early life
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Dunleavy attended Holy Cross and Nazareth Regional High School. He completed his college education at the University of South Carolina, where he played collegiate basketball under coach Frank McGuire.
Playing career
Selected in the sixth round of the 1976 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, the 6'3" guard spent a full season with Hall-of-Famer teammate Julius Erving, advancing to the Finals but ultimately falling to the Portland Trail Blazers. The subsequent year saw him split his time between Philadelphia and the Houston Rockets following a mid-season trade. While with Houston, Dunleavy was instrumental in reaching the finals, posting a team-high 28 points in Game 4, although the Rockets were defeated by the Boston Celtics.
He continued his career in Texas during the 1982–83 season with the nearby San Antonio Spurs. After two seasons playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, Dunleavy ended his playing career due to persistent back issues. His most productive season came in 1980–81 with Houston, where he averaged 10.5 points per game and was a starter on an NBA Finals squad.
Following retirement, Dunleavy transitioned into a role at an investment firm before returning to basketball as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1987. Between 1988 and 1990, he briefly resumed playing, appearing in seven games. Across his 438-game NBA tenure, he averaged 8 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.
Regular season
|- | align="left" | 1976–77 | align="left" | Philadelphia | 32 || - || 11.2 || .414 || - || .756 || 1.1 || 1.8 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4.8 |- | align="left" | 1977–78 | align="left" | Philadelphia | 4 || - || 4.3 || .429 || - || 1.000 || 0.3 || 1.5 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | 1977–78 | align="left" | Houston | 11 || - || 9.3 || .395 || - || .688 || 0.8 || 2.0 || 0.7 || 0.1 || 4.1 |- | align="left" | 1978–79 | align="left" | Houston | 74 || - || 20.1 || .506 || - || .864 || 1.7 || 4.4 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 8.0 |- | align="left" | 1979–80 | align="left" | Houston | 51 || - || 20.3 || .464 || .150 || .828 || 2.0 || 4.1 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 8.0 |- | align="left" | 1980–81 | align="left" | Houston | 74 || - || 21.7 || .491 || .063 || .839 || 1.6 || 3.6 || 0.9|| 0.0||10.5 |- | align="left" | 1981–82 | align="left" | Houston |70||15||18..8||..458||..384||..708||1..5||3..2||0..6||0..0||7..4 |- | align="left" | 1982–83 | align="left" | San Antonio | 79||9||20..5||..418|| style="background:#cfecec;" |.345*||..779||1..7||5..5||0..9||0..1||7..8 |- | align="left" | 1983–84 | align="left" | Milwaukee |17||12||23..8||.551||..422||..800||1..6||4..6||0..7||0..1||11..2 |- | align="left" | 1984–85 | align="left" | Milwaukee |19|||19|||22..8|||..474|||..340|||..862|||1..6|||4..5|||0..8|||0..2|||8..9 |- | align="left" | 1988–89 | align="left" | Milwaukee |2||0||2..5||..500|||.500|||..000|||0..0|||0..0|||0..0|||0..0|||1..5 |- | align="left" | 1989–90 | align="left" | Milwaukee |5||0||8..6||..286|||..222|||..875|||0..4|||2..0|||.2|||.0|||3..4 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |438|||55|||19..2|||..467|||.339|||.810|||1..6|||3..9|||.8|||.1|||8..0 }
Playoffs
| Season | Team | Games | Minutes | FG% | 3P% | FT% | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976–77 | Philadelphia | 11 | 6.2 | .360 | - | .800 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 1978–79 | Houston | 1 | 10.0 | .000 | - | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1979–80 | Houston | 6 | 7.5 | .500 | .000 | .833 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| 1980–81 | Houston | 20 | 23.6 | .454 | .400 | .868 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 8.9 |
| 1981–82 | Houston | 3 | 22.0 | .409 | .000 | .833 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| 1982–83 | San Antonio | 11 | 15.8 | .338 | .267 | .692 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 5.5 |
| 1983–84 | Milwaukee | 15 | 26.2 | .457 | .360 | .917 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 11.3 |
| Career | 67 | 18.3 | .428 | .317 | .856 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 7.0 | |
Coaching career
Dunleavy launched his head coaching journey in 1990, taking over the Los Angeles Lakers after Pat Riley's departure. During the 1991 NBA Finals, his Lakers squad, featuring stars like Magic Johnson and Vlade Divac, fell to the Chicago Bulls in a five-game series, following their triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals.
In the early part of his second season, Dunleavy guided the Lakers to victory at the McDonald's Open held in Paris, just before Johnson's retirement triggered by an HIV diagnosis was announced. The team reached the playoffs once more but were eliminated in the opening round.
He then took on the role of head coach and vice-president of basketball operations with the Milwaukee Bucks from the 1992–93 NBA season through the 1995–96 NBA season. After a moderately successful coaching period, he transitioned into a general manager role before accepting the head coaching position for the Portland Trail Blazers in 1997.
While coaching Portland, Dunleavy was honored with the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 1999. He led the team to four playoff appearances before being relieved of his duties following the 2000–01 NBA season.
In 2003, Dunleavy assumed head coaching responsibilities for the Los Angeles Clippers, steering them to their first playoff series victory since relocating from Buffalo and their first postseason appearance since 1997 during the 2006–07 NBA season. However, injuries contributed to a decline that caused them to miss the playoffs that year.
After a brief stint as an NBA analyst for NBA on TNT in 2008, Dunleavy returned to coaching.
On February 4, 2010, he stepped down as head coach of the Clippers but stayed on as general manager until March when he was dismissed amid accusations of defrauding the organization; he subsequently secured a $13 million settlement through arbitration.
Dunleavy embarked on his inaugural college coaching role at Tulane University on March 28, 2016. Following a disappointing final season record of 4–27, Tulane announced on March 16, 2019, that he would not continue as head coach for the subsequent season.
Personal life
Dunleavy is father to three sons: Mike Jr., who played six seasons in the NBA after a standout career at Duke University; Baker, who served as head coach at Quinnipiac University; and James, who works as an NBA player agent.
NBA
|- | align="left" |L.A. Lakers | align="left" | |82||58||24||.707|| align="center" |2nd place in Pacific Division||19||12||7||.632 | align="center" |Defeated in NBA Finals |- | align="left" |L.A. Lakers | align="left" | |82||43||39||.524|| align="center" |6th place in Pacific Division||4||1||3||.250 | align="center" |Eliminated in First round |- | align="left" |Milwaukee | align="left" | |82||28||54||.341|| align="center" |7th place in Central Division||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Did not qualify for Playoffs |- | align="left" |Milwaukee | align="left" | |82||20||62||.244|| align="center" |6th place in Central Division||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Failed to reach Playoffs |- | align="left" |Milwaukee | align="left" | |82||34||48||.415|| align="center" |6th place in Central Division||—||—||—||— | align="center" |No Playoff appearance |- | align="left" |Milwaukee | align="left" | |82||25||57||.305|| align="center" |7th place in Central Division||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Missed Playoffs |- | align="left" |Portland | align="left" | |82||46||36||.561|| align="center" |4th place in Pacific Division||4||1||3||.250 | align="center" |Exited in First round |- | align="left" |Portland | align="left" | |50||35||15||.700|| align="center" |1st place in Pacific Division||13||7||6||.538 | align="center" |Eliminated in Conference Finals |- | align="left" |Portland | align="left" | |82|||59|||23|||.720|||2nd place in Pacific Division|||16|||10|||6|||.625 | Lost in Conference Finals |- |align=left |2000–01 Portland Trail Blazers season |align=left | |82|||50|||32|||.610|||4th place in Pacific Division|||3|||0|||3|||.000 |- |- |- |- |-class=sortbottom !Career!! ||1329!!613!!716!!.461!! ||71!!38!!33!!.535!!