 Carlesimo in 2015 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1949-05-30)May 30, 1949 (age 75) Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Scranton Prep (Scranton, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Fordham (1968–1971) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1971:undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Guard | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1971–2013 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
| 1971–1975 | Fordham (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 1975–1976 | New Hampshire College | ||||||||||||||
| 1976–1982 | Wagner | ||||||||||||||
| 1982–1994 | Seton Hall | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1997 | Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Golden State Warriors | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2007 | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Seattle SuperSonics /Oklahoma City Thunder | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Toronto Raptors (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Brooklyn Nets (interim) | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
As head coach:
As assistant coach:
| |||||||||||||||
| Career coaching record | |||||||||||||||
| NBA | 239–315 (.431) | ||||||||||||||
| College | 277–259 (.517) | ||||||||||||||
Record atBasketball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American formerbasketball coach who coached in both theNational Basketball Association (NBA) andcollege basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster and has worked withESPN,The NBA on TNT,Westwood One,Fox Sports Southwest,Pac-12 Network,The NBA on NBC, andCSN New England.
Carlesimo served as the head coach of four NBA teams, the interim head coach of another NBA team, and was namedSeton Hall University's "Coach of the Century". He was an assistant coach for theUnited States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team") that won the gold medal at the1992 Summer Olympics. He was also an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs team that won three championships between 2003 and 2007.
Carlesimo is a 1971 graduate ofFordham University, where he played basketball under coachDigger Phelps. He began his coaching career as an assistant at the school after he graduated. He received his first head coaching job when he took over New Hampshire College (nowSouthern New Hampshire University) for one year, beginning in 1975. The New Hampshire Penmen ended the 1975–1976 season with a 14–13 record and won the Mayflower Conference championship.[1] Carlesimo also had a successful coaching stint atWagner College ofStaten Island, New York, a Division I school, leading the team to one NIT berth in six years as coach from 1976 to 1982.[2] In addition, Carlesimo spent time coaching in Puerto Rico during the summers.[3]
Carlesimo coachedSeton Hall University from 1982 to 1994, leading the turnaround of a struggling program. The Pirates made their first ever NCAA tournament in1988, and Carlesimo was named theBig East Conferencecoach of the year.
In 1989, Carlesimo led the Pirates to their first-ever Final Four appearance following a 78–65 upset over the #2 seed Indiana Hoosiers coached byBobby Knight.[4] They advanced to theNCAA Championship game against theMichigan Wolverines, but lost in overtime 80–79.[5] Carlesimo was again named Big East coach of the year, following the 1989 season.
During Carlesimo's tenure the Pirates went to theNCAA tournament six times, four of them consecutively from 1991 until 1994. After a 6–23 record in his first season, he turned the team into a consistent title contender and eventual tournament runner-up and number one seed. Compiling an overall record of 212–166, he was named Seton Hall's "Coach of the Century".[6]
Carlesimo was an assistant coach underMike Krzyzewski with theU.S. national team in the1990 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.[7] He also was an assistant coach on the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team", winning a gold medal.
On June 23, 1994, Carlesimo was hired as head coach of thePortland Trail Blazers.[8] Midway into his first season with the team, the team traded long-time BlazerClyde Drexler in an effort to rebuild. However instead of falling in the standings, Carlesimo led the team to a winning record and the playoffs in his first season as an NBA head coach. He led the Blazers to the playoffs in each of his three years as their head coach, but was unable to lead the team out of the first round of the playoffs and was fired following the1996–97 season.
In 1997, Carlesimo headed to theGolden State Warriors, again succeedingRick Adelman as head coach (Adelman had previously coached the Trail Blazers prior to Carlesimo's hiring). He coached that team until December 1999, at which point he was fired after his team got off to a losing start for the third straight year.
During a practice during the1997–98 season while Carlesimo was head coach of the Warriors, he was attacked byLatrell Sprewell.[9][10] Sprewell choked Carlesimo for nearly 15 seconds until he was pulled off by other coaches and staff; Sprewell elbowed him several minutes later. The Warriors terminated Sprewell's contract, and the NBA suspended him for a year.
After leaving the Warriors, Carlesimo worked as a broadcaster and analyst withThe NBA on TNT until being hired as an assistant coach underGregg Popovich in2002. He worked with the Spurs until2007, winning three championships in five seasons (2003,2005, and2007). Spurs GMSam Presti was hired as general manager of theSeattle SuperSonics after the 2007 championship, and hired Carlesimo as their head coach on July 5, 2007.[11] The team broke up the core ofRay Allen andRashard Lewis which made for a difficult first season.[12] That season, their second overall pickKevin Durant was named NBA Rookie of the Year.
The Sonics relocated toOklahoma City a year later, where they became theOklahoma City Thunder, making him the first head coach in Thunder history. Carlesimo was fired on November 22, 2008, by the Thunder after a 1–12 start.[13] During his time with the Sonics and Thunder, he coached the USA select basketball team that scrimmaged with the US National Team in preparation for the2007 FIBA tournament and2008 Summer Olympics.[14] The team includedKevin Durant andJeff Green, both players with the Thunder.
On May 31, 2010, Carlesimo had reached an agreement to join theToronto Raptors as an assistant coach underJay Triano.[15] After one season with the Raptors, he was hired as an assistant coach by theNew Jersey Nets[16] (now known as theBrooklyn Nets).
On December 27, 2012, he was promoted to interim head coach of the Nets after the firing ofAvery Johnson.[17] Carlesimo took a team floundering at 14–14, and compiled 35–19 record for a fourth-place finish in the East, earning home-court advantage for the Nets in the first round. On May 5, 2013, Nets general managerBilly King announced Carlesimo would not be retained as head coach after the team lost in their first round series against the Chicago Bulls in 7 games.[18]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire College Penmen(Mayflower Conference)(1975–1976) | |||||||||
| 1975–76 | New Hampshire College | 14–13 | 1st | ||||||
| New Hampshire College: | 14–13 (.519) | ||||||||
| Wagner Seahawks(NCAA Division I independent)(1976–1981) | |||||||||
| 1976–77 | Wagner | 3–21 | |||||||
| 1977–78 | Wagner | 7–19 | |||||||
| 1978–79 | Wagner | 21–7 | NIT first round | ||||||
| 1979–80 | Wagner | 14–13 | |||||||
| 1980–81 | Wagner | 16–11 | |||||||
| Wagner Seahawks(Eastern College Athletic Conference)(1981–1982) | |||||||||
| 1981–82 | Wagner | 4–22 | 1–14 | ||||||
| Wagner: | 65–93 (.411) | 1–14 (.067) | |||||||
| Seton Hall Pirates(Big East Conference)(1982–1994) | |||||||||
| 1982–83 | Seton Hall | 6–23 | 1–15 | 9th | |||||
| 1983–84 | Seton Hall | 9–19 | 2–14 | 9th | |||||
| 1984–85 | Seton Hall | 10–18 | 1–15 | 9th | |||||
| 1985–86 | Seton Hall | 14–18 | 3–13 | 9th | |||||
| 1986–87 | Seton Hall | 15–14 | 4–12 | 7th | NIT first round | ||||
| 1987–88 | Seton Hall | 22–13 | 8–8 | 6th | NCAA Division I second round | ||||
| 1988–89 | Seton Hall | 31–7 | 11–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Runner-up | ||||
| 1989–90 | Seton Hall | 12–16 | 5–11 | 7th | |||||
| 1990–91 | Seton Hall | 25–9 | 9–7 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 1991–92 | Seton Hall | 23–9 | 12–6 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1992–93 | Seton Hall | 28–7 | 14–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | ||||
| 1993–94 | Seton Hall | 17–13 | 8–10 | 7th | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| Seton Hall: | 212–166 (.561) | 72–109 (.398) | |||||||
| Total: | 291–272 (.517) | ||||||||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland | 1994–95 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 4th in Pacific | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost infirst round |
| Portland | 1995–96 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 3rd in Pacific | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost infirst round |
| Portland | 1996–97 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 3rd in Pacific | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost infirst round |
| Golden State | 1997–98 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | 6th in Pacific | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Golden State | 1998–99 | 50 | 21 | 29 | .420 | 6th in Pacific | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Golden State | 1999–00 | 27 | 6 | 21 | .222 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seattle | 2007–08 | 82 | 20 | 62 | .244 | 5th in Northwest | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Oklahoma City | 2008–09 | 13 | 1 | 12 | .077 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brooklyn | 2012–13 | 54 | 35 | 19 | .648 | 2nd in Atlantic | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost infirst round |
| Career | 554 | 239 | 315 | .431 | 19 | 6 | 13 | .316 |
Carlesimo is married and has two sons.
He is the son ofcollege basketball coach and athletic directorPeter A. Carlesimo.[19]
