Royal Ivey
Royal Ivey | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1981 Harlem, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Professional basketball coach, former player |
| Years active | 2004–2014 (player), 2014–present (coach) |
| Known for | Assistant coach for the Houston Rockets; head coach of South Sudan national basketball team |
Royal Terence Ivey ( ; born December 20, 1981) is an American professional basketball coach and former player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Additionally, he holds the position of head coach for the South Sudan national team, guiding them through the 2023 World Cup and the men's tournament at the 2024 Olympics. Ivey played collegiate basketball with the Texas Longhorns before embarking on a decade-long NBA playing career.
Early life and college
Hailing from Harlem, New York City, Ivey captained Benjamin N. Cardozo High School's basketball squad to a PSAL championship title. He then pursued a postgraduate year at Blair Academy in New Jersey.
During his tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, Ivey set a school record by starting in 126 career games, laying a solid groundwork that propelled him into the professional ranks.
Professional career
Selected 37th overall in the 2004 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks, Ivey began his NBA journey.
He inked a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks on September 18, 2007.
On July 24, 2008, he reached an agreement to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
By June 15, 2009, Philadelphia announced that Ivey had opted out of his player option for the 2009–10 season, making him an unrestricted free agent. Nonetheless, he re-signed with the 76ers in August of that year.
Ivey was traded back to Milwaukee on February 18, 2010, alongside Primoz Brezec, in exchange for Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson.
He signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 21, 2010, and was part of the squad that advanced to the NBA Finals in 2012, where they fell to the Miami Heat.
Ivey returned to Philadelphia on July 27, 2012.
After signing with the Atlanta Hawks on September 30, 2013, he was waived less than a month later on October 25.
On January 16, 2014, Ivey secured a 10-day contract with Oklahoma City; however, following its expiration on January 26, no further contract was extended.
Subsequently, on January 29, 2014, he joined China's Guangdong Southern Tigers for the remainder of that season.
Coaching career
Ivey transitioned into coaching when he was appointed assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA Development League on September 29, 2014, concluding his playing career after ten years.
He advanced from a player development assistant role to assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 1, 2016.
On June 7, 2018, he became an assistant coach for the New York Knicks, working under head coach David Fizdale. Following Fizdale's dismissal, Ivey continued his duties under interim head coach Mike Miller.
The Brooklyn Nets brought Ivey on board as an assistant coach under head coach Steve Nash on November 11, 2020.
Most recently, on July 3, 2023, Ivey joined the Houston Rockets as an assistant coach.
South Sudan national team
On May 3, 2021, Ivey took on the role of head coach for the national basketball team of South Sudan—the world’s newest nation. He led them during their debut at AfroBasket 2021, where South Sudan recorded their first-ever AfroBasket victory against Uganda, advancing to the quarterfinals before being ousted by defending champions Tunisia.
Under Ivey’s guidance, South Sudan achieved qualification for their inaugural World Cup appearance in 2023 after an undefeated streak during first-round African qualifiers. They also secured their first Olympic participation by finishing as Africa’s highest-ranked team at the 2023 World Cup, earning a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games.
At the 2024 Olympics, South Sudan opened with a win over Puerto Rico, but subsequent losses to both Serbia and the United States ended their run in group play. Despite their elimination, they garnered widespread acclaim for their competitive spirit and unique presence.
Personal life
Ivey's namesake honors his grandfather, Roy Allen, who was among the pioneering African-American television stage directors.
Amid the 2011 NBA lockout, Ivey chose to resume his education at the University of Texas, finalizing his degree in applied learning and development. In 2023, he wed Deanna Herrington.
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Atlanta | 62 || 5 || 13.0 || .429 || .333 || .701 || 1.4 || 1.7 || .6 || .1 || 3.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Atlanta | 73 || 66 || 13.4 || .439 || .400 || .727 || 1.3 || 1.0 || .3 || .1 || 3.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Atlanta | 53 || 18 || 10.2 || .448 || .313 || .686 || 1.0 || .8 || .5 || .1 || 3.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | 75 || 20 || 19.2 || .394 || .327 || .726 || 1.6 || 2.1 || .6 || .1 || 5.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 71 || 0 || 12.1 || .332 || .342 || .791 || 1.1 || .6 || .5 || .1 || 3.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 26 || 0 || 9.1 || .473 || .500 || .857 || 1.0 || .7 || .4 || .1 || 2.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | 18 || 0 || 5.0 || .321 || .182 || .600 || .4 || .6 || .5 || .0|| 1.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City | 25||0||6.2|| .421|| .438|| 1.000|| .6|| .3|| .2|| .0||1.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City |34||0||10.4|| .356|| .340|| .125|| .7|| .3|| .4|| .0||2.1 |-
|style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Philadelphia |53||5||13.2||.431||.420||.563||1.1||.6||.4||.1||3.2 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Oklahoma City |2||0||2.5||.000||.000||.000||.5||0||0||0||0 |- class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career |492||114||12.5||.406||.361||.706||1.1||1.0||.5||.1||3.3
Playoffs
|- | style="text-align:left;" |2009 | style="text-align:left;" |Philadelphia | 6 || 0 || 7.5 || .273 || .286 || .750 || .7 || .0 || .5 || .0 || 1.8 |-
|style="text-align:left;" |2010 |style="text-align:left;" |Milwaukee |3||0||3.7|| .333||| .000||| .000||| .0||| .7||| .0||| .3|||1.3
|-
|style="text-align:left;" |2011 |style="text-align:left;" |Oklahoma City |2|||0|||3||| 1.000||| 1.000||| .000||| .5||| .5||| .0||| .0||| 3.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;" |2012 |style="text-align:left;" |Oklahoma City |5|||0|||4.2||| .364||| .400||| .500||| .6||| .2||| .4||| .0|||2.2
|- class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career |16|||0|||5.1||| .367||| .375||| .667||| .5||| .3||| .3||| .1|||2.0
External links
- Royal Ivey on texassports.com
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1981 births
- Living people
- 21st-century African-American athletes
- African-American basketball coaches
- American male basketball players
- Atlanta Hawks draft selections
- Atlanta Hawks players
- Basketball coaches originating from New York (state)
- Basketball players hailing from Manhattan
- Basketball players from Queens, New York
- Benjamin N. Cardozo High School graduates
- Blair Academy graduates
- Brooklyn Nets assistant coaches
- Guangdong Southern Tigers players
- Houston Rockets assistant coaches
- Milwaukee Bucks players
- New York Knicks assistant coaches
- Oklahoma City Blue coaches
- Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coaches
- Oklahoma City Thunder players
- Philadelphia 76ers players
- Shooting guards
- Small forwards
- South Sudan men's national basketball team coaches
- Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
- Coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- American expatriate basketball professionals in China
- 21st-century American athletes