 O'Brien in 2009 | |
| Philadelphia 76ers | |
|---|---|
| Position | Senior Advisor |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1952-02-11)February 11, 1952 (age 73) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Saint Joseph's (1971–1974) |
| Coaching career | 1974–2019 |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1974–1975 | Wheeling Jesuit (assistant) |
| 1975–1976 | Pembroke State (assistant) |
| 1976–1977 | Maryland (assistant) |
| 1977–1978 | Saint Joseph's (assistant) |
| 1978–1982 | Oregon (assistant) |
| 1982–1987 | Wheeling Jesuit |
| 1987–1989 | New York Knicks (assistant) |
| 1989–1994 | Dayton |
| 1994–1997 | Kentucky (assistant) |
| 1997–2001 | Boston Celtics (assistant) |
| 2001–2004 | Boston Celtics |
| 2004–2005 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 2007–2011 | Indiana Pacers |
| 2012–2013 | Dallas Mavericks (assistant) |
| 2016–2019 | Philadelphia 76ers (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
As head coach:
As assistant coach:
| |
James Francis Xavier O'Brien (born February 11, 1952)[1] is an American basketball coach who is currently senior advisor for thePhiladelphia 76ers. O'Brien was previously an assistant and head coach at both the college and NBA levels and was head coach atWheeling Jesuit from 1982 to 1987,Dayton from 1989 to 1994, theBoston Celtics from 2001 to 2004, Philadelphia 76ers in 2004–05, andIndiana Pacers from 2007 to 2011.
O'Brien is the son-in-law of Hall of Fame coachJack Ramsay. Born and raised inPhiladelphia, O'Brien graduated fromRoman Catholic High School of Philadelphia in 1970 andSt. Joseph's University in 1974. At St. Joseph's, O'Brien started on theHawks basketball team for three seasons. He earned anM.B.A. from theUniversity of Maryland in 1981.[2]
O'Brien was also head coach atWheeling Jesuit University from 1982 to 1987 and theUniversity of Dayton from 1989 to 1994. He led theDayton Flyers to the second round of theNCAA tournament in his first season, after winning the Midwestern Collegiate Conference; however he led the Flyers to just 10 wins in his last two seasons at the school and was fired after the 1993–1994 season. O'Brien then served as an assistant coach toRick Pitino at theUniversity of Kentucky from 1994 to 1997 and then with the Boston Celtics from 1997 to 2001.
O'Brien was the head coach of theBoston Celtics from2001–2004, replacingRick Pitino. He worked to rebuild the struggling Celtics and led them twice to the playoffs. During the 2003–04 NBA season, however, O'Brien consistently fought with Celtics' general managerDanny Ainge over 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 conflict, O'Brien shocked everyone in the Celtics community by resigning in January 2004.
He was hired as head coach of thePhiladelphia 76ers during the2004–05 season. The 76ers made the playoffs in his one season as coach after missing the postseason the previous year, and although O'Brien had a multiyear contract, he was fired.Billy King hiredMaurice Cheeks as head coach after Cheeks was fired by thePortland Trail Blazers.[3]
The Indianapolis Star reported on May 31, 2007, that he would coach the Indiana Pacers.[4] He replacedRick Carlisle, who was fired after four years, when the team failed in 2006–07 to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade. On January 31, 2011, Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird relieved O'Brien of his coaching duties. He was replaced by assistantFrank Vogel on an interim basis, who remained as the Pacers' head coach until the2015–16 season.[5]
In the2012–13 season, O'Brien was an assistant coach for theDallas Mavericks. After the season, O'Brien retired from the team to spend more time with family.[6]
In 2016, O'Brien was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant coach toBrett Brown.
O'Brien was also an analyst forESPN's NBA coverage from 2005 to 2007.
O'Brien's son, Jack O'Brien, is a noted internet comedian and podcast host.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals(West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference[7])(1982–1987) | |||||||||
| 1982–83 | Wheeling Jesuit | 17–14 | 7–10 | T–7th | |||||
| 1983–84 | Wheeling Jesuit | 13–15 | 8–9 | 9th | |||||
| 1984–85 | Wheeling Jesuit | 13–15 | 8–9 | 8th | |||||
| 1985–86 | Wheeling Jesuit | 18–10 | 10–8 | 8th | |||||
| 1986–87 | Wheeling Jesuit | 13–15 | unknown | 10th | |||||
| Wheeling Jesuit: | 74–69 (.517) | 33–36 (.478) | |||||||
| Dayton Flyers(Midwestern Collegiate Conference)(1989–1993) | |||||||||
| 1989–90 | Dayton | 22–10 | 10–4 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1990–91 | Dayton | 14–15 | 8–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1991–92 | Dayton | 15–15 | 5–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1992–93 | Dayton | 4–26 | 3–11 | 7th | |||||
| Dayton Flyers(Great Midwest Conference)(1993–1994) | |||||||||
| 1993–94 | Dayton | 6–21 | 1–11 | 7th | |||||
| Dayton: | 61–87 (.412) | 27–56 (.422) | |||||||
| Total: | 135–156 (.464) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 2000–01 | 48 | 24 | 24 | .500 | 5th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Boston | 2001–02 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 2nd in Atlantic | 16 | 9 | 7 | .563 | Lost inConf. Finals |
| Boston | 2002–03 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 3rd in Atlantic | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost inConf. Semifinals |
| Boston | 2003–04 | 46 | 22 | 24 | .478 | (resigned) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Philadelphia | 2004–05 | 82 | 43 | 39 | .524 | 2nd in Atlantic | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost inFirst Round |
| Indiana | 2007–08 | 82 | 36 | 46 | .439 | 3rd in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Indiana | 2008–09 | 82 | 36 | 46 | .439 | 4th in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Indiana | 2009–10 | 82 | 32 | 50 | .390 | 4th in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Indiana | 2010–11 | 44 | 17 | 27 | .386 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 630 | 303 | 327 | .481 | 31 | 14 | 17 | .452 |