Jim O'Brien (born February 11 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the current head coach of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously, O'Brien was the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, where he served in that role for the 2004-05 NBA season. Although the 76ers made the playoffs in his one season as coach, after missing the postseason the previous year, O'Brien was fired because of a failure to keep the team's stars from clashing. Coaching the 76ers was a homecoming for O'Brien, who is a Philadelphia native, attended Roman Catholic High School in his youth, and starred collegiately at St. Joseph's University. Before his stint in Philadelphia, O'Brien was the head coach of the Boston Celtics from 2001-2004, replacing Rick Pitino. He built up a once-struggling Celtics team and took them twice into the playoffs. However, during the 2003-04 NBA season, O'Brien consistently fought with Celtics' director of basketball operations Danny Ainge regarding short-term versus long-term goals. Ainge was looking to completely redo the roster, and traded Eric Williams and Tony Battie, two of O'Brien's favorite hardworking players in December, 2003. As a result of the ongoing conflicts, O'Brien shocked everyone in the Celtics community by resigning in January 2004. O'Brien was also head coach at Wheeling Jesuit University from 1982–87 and the University of Dayton from 1989–1994. He lea the Dayton Flyers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his first season, after winning the Atlantic 10 title. He is the son-in-law of Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, and was coached at Saint Joseph's by another former NBA coach, Jack McKinney. The Indianapolis Star reported on May 31, 2007 that he is the new head coach of the Indiana Pacers. [1] He replaced Rick Carlisle, who was fired after four years as Pacers' head coach when the team failed in 2006-2007 to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade. He also served as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of the NBA from 2005-2007.
Coaching Record
Coaching Record
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||
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| G | W | L | Finish | Result | ||
| BOS | 2000-01 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 5th in Atlantic | Missed Playoffs |
| BOS | 2001-02 | 82 | 49 | 33 | 2nd in Atlantic | Lost in Conf. Finals |
| BOS | 2002-03 | 82 | 44 | 38 | 3rd in Atlantic | Lost in Second Round |
| BOS | 2003-04 | 46 | 22 | 24 | 4th in Atlantic | (resigned) |
| PHI | 2004-05 | 82 | 43 | 39 | 2nd in Atlantic | Lost in First Round |
External links
| Preceded by Rick Pitino |
Boston Celtics Head Coach 2001–2004 |
Succeeded by John Carroll |
| Preceded by Chris Ford |
Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Maurice Cheeks |
| Preceded by Rick Carlisle |
Indiana Pacers Head Coach 2007–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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| O'Malley • Solimano • Mahrt • McCray • Mahrt • Solimano • Thiele • Sherry • Hill • Fitzgerald • Belanich • Tschudi • Holsinger • Carter • Blackburn • Donoher • O'Brien • Purnell • Gregory |
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| J. Russell • Julian • Auerbach • B. Russell • Heinsohn • Sanders • Cowens • Fitch • Jones • Rodgers • Ford • Carr • Pitino • O'Brien • Carroll • Rivers |
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| Cervi • Seymour • Hannum • Schayes • Hannum • Ramsay • Rubin • Loughery • Shue • Cunningham • Guokas • Lynam • Moe • Carter • Lucas • Davis • Brown • Ayers • Ford • O'Brien • Cheeks |
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| Staverman • Leonard • McKinney • Irvine • Ramsay • Versace • Hill • Brown • Bird • Thomas • Carlisle • O'Brien |
