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Brian Winters

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This article is about the basketball coach. For the American football player, see Brian Winters (American football). For the American soccer player, see Brian Winters (soccer).

Brian Winters
Personal information
Born (1952-03-01) March 1, 1952 (age 72)
Rockaway, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolArchbishop Molloy
(Queens, New York)
CollegeSouth Carolina (1971–1974)
NBA draft1974: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career1974–1983
PositionShooting guard / point guard
Number20, 32
Coaching career1984–2013
Career history
As player:
1974��1975Los Angeles Lakers
1975–1983Milwaukee Bucks
As coach:
1984–1986Princeton (assistant)
1986–1993Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
1993–1995Atlanta Hawks (assistant)
1995–1997Vancouver Grizzlies
1997–1998Denver Nuggets (assistant)
1999–2002Golden State Warriors (assistant)
2001–2002Golden State Warriors (interim)
2004–2007Indiana Fever
2012–2013Charlotte Bobcats (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:
Career NBA playing statistics
Points10,537 (16.2 ppg)
Rebounds1,688 (2.6 rpg)
Assists2,674 (4.1 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Career coaching record
NBA36–148 (.196)
WNBA78–58 (.574)

Brian Joseph Winters (born March 1, 1952) is an American former basketball player and coach.

Career

[edit]

Winters attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York, graduating in 1970. He then played collegiately with the University of South Carolina, scoring 1,079 points over his career. While playing for South Carolina, Winters was hampered due to both a severe case of mononucleosis and a series of knee injuries.[1] He was the 12th pick in the 1974 NBA draft, taken by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Winters made the NBA All-Rookie Team with the Lakers before he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the deal that brought future Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the West Coast, which Abdul-Jabbar had demanded. On April 18, 1976, in the first playoff series of his NBA career, Winters scored 33 points and recorded 5 assists in a 107–104 Game 3 loss against the Detroit Pistons.[2] On November 30, 1976, Winters scored a career-high 43 points in a 115–106 victory over the Trailblazers.[3] The following season, on December 16, 1977, Winters scored 24 points and made a game-winning jumpshot during a 152–150 triple overtime win against the New York Knicks.[4] On March 19, 1978, Winters scored 22 points and recorded a career-high 18 assists in a 117–106 victory against the Washington Bullets.[5]

Overall, he had a productive nine-year career that included two appearances in the NBA All-Star Game and six in the playoffs, and was a fan-favorite during the years that the Bucks struggled through immediately following the aforementioned Abdul-Jabbar trade. Winters averaged 16.2 points and 4.1 assists over his career, with his best years coming from 1975–76 to 1979–80, when he averaged 18.7 points. 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game. His game declined in the 1982–83 season, however, when he shot a career-worst 43 percent in the field, after which he retired at 31 years of age. The Bucks organization retired his number 32 on October 28, 1983, he was the third player in franchise history to be honored with a jersey retirement.[6][7]

In a 2005 interview, Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan singled out Winters as the best "pure shooter" in history, claiming that "he had the most beautiful stroke of all the people whom [he could] think of."[8]

After retiring from the NBA, Winters became an assistant coach for two years under legendary coach Pete Carril at Princeton. From there, he moved on to become an assistant coach under Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens with the Cleveland Cavaliers for 7 years and Atlanta Hawks for two more. Next he was the inaugural coach for the Vancouver Grizzlies for a year and a half. Later Winters coached with the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors. He was formerly the head coach of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, leading them to their first ever consecutive-year playoff appearances.

On October 26, 2007, Winters option wasn't picked up by the Indiana Fever, ending his four-year tenure with the club.[9] He compiled a 78–58 record in the regular season to go with a 5–7 playoff record. He was a scout for the Indiana Pacers for several seasons until he was let go during the NBA lockout in August 2011.[10] He spent the 2012–13 season as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats.[11]

Winters has been a talent scout for the Indiana Pacers since 2014.[12] He played a role in convincing the Pacers to draft Myles Turner.[1]

Head coaching record

[edit]

NBA

[edit]
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Vancouver 1995–96 82 15 67 .183 7th in Midwest — — — — Missed playoffs
Vancouver 1996–97 43 8 35 .186 (fired) — — — — —
Golden State 2001–02 59 13 46 .220 7th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Career 184 36 148 .196 — — — —

WNBA

[edit]
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
IND 2004 34 15 19 .441 6th in East — — — — Missed Playoffs
IND 2005 34 21 13 .618 2nd in East 4 2 2 .500 Lost in Conference finals
IND 2006 34 21 13 .618 3rd in East 2 0 2 .000 Lost in Conference semifinals
IND 2007 34 21 13 .618 2nd in East 6 3 3 .500 Lost in Conference finals
Career 136 78 58 .574 12 5 7 .417

NBA career statistics

[edit]
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

[edit]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1974–75 L.A. Lakers 68 – 22.3 .443 – .826 2.0 2.9 1.1 0.3 11.7
1975–76 Milwaukee 78 – 35.8 .464 – .829 3.2 4.7 1.6 0.3 18.2
1976–77 Milwaukee 78 – 34.8 .498 – .847 3.0 4.3 1.5 0.4 19.3
1977–78 Milwaukee 80 – 34.4 .463 – .840 3.1 4.9 1.6 0.3 19.9
1978–79 Milwaukee 79 – 32.6 .493 – .856 2.2 4.8 1.1 0.5 19.8
1979–80 Milwaukee 80 – 32.8 .479 .373 .860 2.8 4.5 1.3 0.4 16.2
1980–81 Milwaukee 69 – 25.7 .475 .353 .869 2.0 3.3 1.0 0.1 11.6
1981–82 Milwaukee 61 13 30.0 .501 .387 .788 2.8 4.1 0.9 0.1 15.9
1982–83 Milwaukee 57 12 23.9 .434 .324 .859 1.9 2.7 0.8 0.1 10.6
Career 650 25 30.7 .475 .363 .842 2.6 4.1 1.2 0.3 16.2
All-Star 2 1 15.0 .417 – – 3.0 1.0 0.5 0.0 5.0

Playoffs

[edit]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1976 Milwaukee 3 – 42.0 .629 – .800 2.3 5.0 1.7 0.7 27.3
1978 Milwaukee 9 – 33.9 .497 – .741 3.3 6.4 1.3 0.9 20.4
1980 Milwaukee 7 – 38.3 .460 .429 1.000 3.0 5.3 1.6 0.0 15.9
1981 Milwaukee 7 – 25.9 .459 .333 .750 3.3 3.1 1.4 0.1 10.0
1982 Milwaukee 6 – 38.7 .494 .500 .833 2.5 4.7 1.3 0.2 16.8
1983 Milwaukee 9 – 26.7 .429 .273 .824 2.4 3.6 0.7 0.4 9.9
Career 41 – 33.0 .490 .396 .808 2.9 4.7 1.3 0.4 15.5

References

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  1. ^ a b "South Carolina basketball: Brian Winters still helps in NBA | The State". Archived from the original on January 29, 2020.
  2. ^ "Detroit Pistons at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, April 18, 1976". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  3. ^ "Portland Trail Blazers at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, November 30, 1976". Basketball-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "Bucks Beat Knicks in 3 Overtimes (Published 1977)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023.
  5. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks at Washington Bullets Box Score, March 19, 1978". Basketball-Reference.com.
  6. ^ "Archived Document". Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  7. ^ "Retired Numbers". Nba.com.
  8. ^ Jordan, Michael (August 2005). "One-on-One with Michael Jordan". Cigar Aficionado (Interview). Interviewed by Marvin R. Shanken. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  9. ^ "Fever declines option on Winters contract". Wnba.com, October 26, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  10. ^ "Pacers cut 3 scouts". Indystar.com. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  11. ^ "Charlotte Bobcats Name Assistant Coaches". NBA.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  12. ^ "Brian Winters, Indiana Pacers, Scout – RealGM". Basketball.realgm.com.
[edit]
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