Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1952)

Not to be confused with Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1950) or Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1951).

Jim O'Brien

File:Coach Jim O'Brien Bulls vs Pacers 2009.jpg
Personal information
Born	(1952-02-11) February 11, 1952 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Career information
High school	Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College	Saint Joseph's (1971–1974)
Coaching career	1974–2013
Career history
As coach:
1974–1975	Wheeling Jesuit (asst.)
1975–1976	Pembroke State (asst.)
1976–1977	Maryland (asst.)
1977–1978	St. Joseph's (asst.)
1978–1982	Oregon (asst.)
1982–1987	Wheeling Jesuit
1987–1989	New York Knicks (asst.)
1989–1994	Dayton
1994–1997	Kentucky (asst.)
1997–2001	Boston Celtics (asst.)
2001–2004	Boston Celtics
2004–2005	Philadelphia 76ers
2007–2011	Indiana Pacers
2012–2013	Dallas Mavericks (asst.)
Career highlights and awards
As assistant coach: NCAA champion (1996)

James Francis Xavier O'Brien (born February 11, 1952) is an American basketball coach.

Early life and education

O'Brien is the son-in-law of Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay. Born and raised in Philadelphia, O'Brien graduated from Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia in 1970 and St. Joseph's University in 1974. At St. Joseph's, O'Brien started on the Hawks basketball team for three seasons. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland in 1981.

Coaching career

O'Brien was also head coach at Wheeling Jesuit University from 1982–87 and the University of Dayton from 1989–94. He led the Dayton Flyers to the second round of the NCAA 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 to Rick Pitino at the University of Kentucky from 1994 to 1997 and then with the Boston Celtics from 1997 to 2001.

Before his stint in Philadelphia, O'Brien was the head coach of the Boston Celtics from 2001–2004, replacing Rick 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 manager Danny 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 the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2004–05 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 hired Maurice Cheeks as head coach after Cheeks was fired by the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Indianapolis Star reported on May 31, 2007 that he would coach the Indiana Pacers. He replaced Rick 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 assistant Frank Vogel on an interim basis, but Vogel was retained after the season and is currently the Pacers' head coach.

In the 2012–13 season, O'Brien was an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks. After the season, O'Brien retired from the team to spend more time with family.

Broadcasting career

O'Brien was also an analyst for ESPN's NBA coverage from 2005–07.

Coaching record

College

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (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:		74–87 (.460)	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         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

NBA

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss %
Post season	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 in Conf. Finals
Boston	2002–03	82	44	38	.537	3rd in Atlantic	10	4	6	.400	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Boston	2003–04	46	22	24	.478	(resigned)	—	—	—	—	—
Philadelphia	2004–05	82	43	39	.524	2nd in Atlantic	5	1	4	.200	Lost in First 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

External links

• DatabaseBasketball.com: Jim O'Brien