William J. Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former player who spent the majority of his career with the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. Known for his rough and violent style of play, he played a big part in the Pistons earning the nickname, the “Bad Boys" in the mid 1980s before helping them win back to back

NBA championships The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is aw ...

. In his

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) career, Laimbeer was known for his 11-year tenure with the

during their "Bad Boys" era. Although a solid shooter and rebounder, Laimbeer became notorious for his physical play and reputation for delivering hard, often flagrant fouls. Laimbeer played at

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

with

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

backcourt guards

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for ''NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Grea ...

and

Joe Dumars Joe Dumars III ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is the executive vice president and head of basketball operations of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play either shoo ...

and forward

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding ...

, winning back to back NBA Championships in 1989 and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

with the Pistons, and being named an NBA All-Star four times. Prior to the NBA, he played for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and

Palos Verdes High School Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, Southern California, USA (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (formerly Rolling Hills High School) and Rancho ...

in Southern California. After his playing career, Laimbeer served as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and general manager of the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...

in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, coaching the team to three league championships in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. He was the head coach of the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

from 2013 to 2017 and the head coach of the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team play ...

from 2018 until 2021. He has twice been named the WNBA's

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

Early life

Laimbeer was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and raised in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburb of Clarendon Hills''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

: Bad Boys'', published by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

on April 18, 2014. Time: 7:20. before moving with his family to

Palos Verdes Estates Palos Verdes Estates (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and ...

, California. His father, William Laimbeer Sr., was an

Owens-Illinois O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products, holding the position of largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South A ...

executive who rose as high as company president. The younger Laimbeer once famously joked, "I'm the only player in the NBA who makes less money than his father." Laimbeer played a

Sleestak '' Land of the Lost'' is a 1974–1976 TV series relating the adventures of the Marshall family (including Will and Holly and their father, later replaced by their uncle). The Marshalls become trapped in a pocket universe populated by dinosaurs, ...

on the children's TV series ''

Land of the Lost Land of the Lost may refer to: * Land of the Lost (1974 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original 1974 children's television series * Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of ...

'' before attending Notre Dame. He was a

student, and the ''Land of the Lost'' show solicited their basketball team for tall people to play Sleestaks.

College career

For college, Laimbeer attended Notre Dame where he played basketball, but he flunked out after his freshman year. To regain his eligibility, he spent two semesters at Owens Technical College in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. Laimbeer then re-entered Notre Dame. He spent two years playing for Notre Dame's basketball team. For his last two years of college, he averaged 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while playing 20 minutes a game, primarily as a substitute. With the Fighting Irish, Laimbeer appeared in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 1978, and the Elite Eight in 1979.

Professional career

Brescia (1979–1980)

Laimbeer was drafted by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in 1979, but spent his first professional season in Europe. He played in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for Pinti Inox Brescia, where he averaged 21.1 points and 12.5 rebounds.

Cleveland Cavaliers (1980–1982)

Laimbeer returned to play for the Cavaliers in 1980. He was a reserve for the entire 1980-81 season and started only 4 games for the 1981–82 team.

Detroit Pistons (1982–1993)

On February 16, 1982, Laimbeer was traded to the

, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was immediately installed as the Pistons starting center. During his playing career, Laimbeer was one of the most notorious players in the NBA. While highly popular among Piston fans, Laimbeer was despised by opposing players and fans for his disdain of his opponents, his poor sportsmanship, and his dangerous play, such as repeatedly committing violent intentional

fouls Foul may refer to: __NOTOC__ In sports * Foul (sports), an unfair or illegal act during a sports competition, including: ** Foul (association football), in football (soccer) ** Professional foul, in football (soccer) or rugby ** Foul (basketbal ...

. In the public eye, Laimbeer's reputation for physical play tended to overshadow his skills. His former teammate

noted this in his book ''

Bad As I Wanna Be ''Bad As I Wanna Be'' is a 1996 book that is the first autobiography of NBA player Dennis Rodman and was written during the 1995-96 season when Rodman was a part of the Bulls team that went on to win three NBA Championships. Tim Keown was Rodma ...

'', saying, " aimbeerwas more than a thug, but that's what he'll be remembered for." In an interview for the 1990 NBA Home Video release "Pure Pistons," teammate Isiah Thomas also talked about Laimbeer's effect on opposing players, saying, "He frustrates people," but then added, "He frustrates people...because he's ''good''." In the ESPN ''

'' film ''Bad Boys'', Laimbeer said his approach to the game was all psychological. When the Pistons would take to the court before a game, Laimbeer made it a point to lead the rest of the team out from the locker room and he always did so with a scowl on his face to show he was not intimidated by anyone. While a serviceable and solid player for most of his career, Laimbeer knew there were better skilled players than him. However, there were not as many players who were as physical on the court as he was, and Laimbeer was able to use that to his advantage. The hard-nosed approach he used was designed to wear on opposing players to the point where they began focusing more on retaliating against him and the rest of the Pistons instead of trying to win the game; Laimbeer said if he was able to do that to an opponent during the course of a game, he had broken them down. He even said the local media would play a role as his and the team's reputation preceded them: "When the Pistons came into a town, all the media would write about were the 'Bad Boys' and how rough we played. They'd be asking players if they were going to stand up to us. And once we got teams thinking like that, we had them. We already got them out of their game." Laimbeer was one of the top outside-shooting centers of his era, draining over 200 three-pointers for his career, and excelled at running the

pick and pop The pick and roll (also called a ball screen or screen and roll) in basketball is an offensive play in which a player sets a screen (pick) for a teammate handling the ball and then moves toward the basket (rolls) to receive a pass. In the NBA, ...

with guards

and

. Then-head coach

Chuck Daly Charles Jerome Daly (July 20, 1930 – May 9, 2009) was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to two consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 1989 and 1990—during the team's "Bad Boys" era— ...

utilized Laimbeer's inside-outside skills to great effect. On the defensive end, Laimbeer was one of the best rebounders in the game. On the offensive end, Daly would often have Laimbeer fade to the perimeter rather than roll to the basket, which had the additional effect of keeping the opposing team's best rebounder far from the backboard. Laimbeer was selected to the

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, a ...

on four occasions (1983, 1984, 1985 and 1987) and finished among the league leaders in rebounding and

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

percentage several times, winning the rebound title in the 1985–86 season. Laimbeer started on the Pistons' 1989 and

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

teams. Laimbeer spent 14 seasons in the NBA, mostly with the Detroit Pistons. Laimbeer became the 19th player in league history to amass more than 10,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. Laimbeer was most effective off the defensive glass – from 1982 to 1990 no player in the league totaled more defensive rebounds. He was also remarkably durable, never playing fewer than 79 regular-season games during his first 13 seasons, and playing all 82 games seven times. His streak of 685 consecutive games played (which ended due to suspension in the 1988–89 season) is the fifth longest in league history. Laimbeer retired early in the 1993–94 season at age 36 after an incident in practice with longtime friend Isiah Thomas that led to Thomas breaking his hand. Laimbeer, upset over the fight as well as worried over the reaction of Pistons fans for injuring their team captain, decided to retire, believing the fight with Isiah was his "downfall". He announced his retirement after a meeting with Thomas and head coach

Don Chaney Donald Ray Chaney (born March 22, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for winning two championships as a player on the Boston Celtics, and winning NBA Coach of The Year while leading the Houston Roc ...

that ended with him and Thomas teary-eyed and remaining best friends. Laimbeer had his jersey number (40) retired by the Pistons in February 1995. He remains the franchise's all-time leader in career rebounds. Laimbeer endorsed a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

, '' Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball'', a futuristic basketball game in which physical play is encouraged. In a cameo in the ninth season of ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

,'' Kevin McHale of the rival Celtics remarked, when presented with the X-Ray of an adult male gorilla's ankle, "...could be Laimbeer."

Career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 81 , , — , , 30.4 , , .503 , , , , .765 , , 8.6 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 50 , , 4 , , 17.9 , , .470 , , .500 , , .775 , , 5.5 , , .9 , , .4 , , .6 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, 30 , , 30 , , 31.2 , , .516 , , .143 , , .813 , , 11.3 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , 1.1 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 35.0 , , .497 , , .154 , , .790 , , 12.1 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , 1.4 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 34.9 , , .530 , , .000 , , .866 , , 12.2 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 35.3 , , .506 , , .222 , , .797 , , 12.4 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .9 , , 17.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 35.3 , , .492 , , .286 , , .834 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 13.1* , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .8 , , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 34.8 , , .501 , , .286 , , .894 , , 11.6 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .8 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 35.3 , , .493 , , .333 , , .874 , , 10.1 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 32.6 , , .499 , , .349 , , .840 , , 9.6 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , 1.2 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 33.0 , , .484 , , .361 , , .854 , , 9.6 , , 2.1 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 81 , , 32.5 , , .478 , , .296 , , .837 , , 9.0 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .7 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 46 , , 27.6 , , .470 , , .376 , , .893 , , 5.6 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .7 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 41 , , 24.5 , , .509 , , .370 , , .894 , , 5.3 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .5 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 5 , , 22.5 , , .522 , , .333 , , .846 , , 5.1 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , 9.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1,068 , , 861 , , 31.8 , , .498 , , .326 , , .837 , , 9.7 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .9 , , 12.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 4 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .650 , , , , .667 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .5 , , .5 , , 7.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 33.0 , , .569 , , , , .900 , , 12.4 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .6 , , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 9 , , 36.1 , , .449 , , .000 , , .706 , , 10.7 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .8 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 42.0 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , .913 , , 14.0 , , .3 , , .5 , , .8 , , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 15 , , 36.2 , , .515 , , .200 , , .625 , , 10.4 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 23 , , 33.9 , , .456 , , .294 , , .889 , , 9.6 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .8 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 1989† , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , 17 , , 29.2 , , .465 , , .357 , , .806 , , 8.2 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , .5 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 20 , , 33.4 , , .457 , , .349 , , .862 , , 10.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , .9 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 15 , , 29.7 , , .446 , , .294 , , .871 , , 8.1 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .8 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 4 , , 29.0 , , .370 , , .200 , , 1.000 , , 6.6 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 113 , , 107 , , 33.1 , , .468 , , .321 , , .819 , , 9.7 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , .7 , , 12.0

Post-playing life

In 1994, Laimbeer and his father William Sr. co-founded Laimbeer Packaging Corp., a company located in

Melvindale, Michigan Melvindale is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city population was 12,851. History Melvindale began as the unincorporated settlement of Oakwood Heights in the northwestern part of Ecorse Township in ...

, a Detroit suburb, producing

corrugated cardboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugated ...

boxes. The company struggled through the late 1990s and closed in early 2002. Laimbeer won the NBA Shooting Stars Competition at the 2007 All-Star Weekend in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

along with

Chauncey Billups Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 17 seasons in the NBA. Afte ...

of the Detroit Pistons and

Swin Cash Swintayla Marie "Swin" Cash Canal (born September 22, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played professionally for 15 seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She currently serves as vice preside ...

of the Detroit Shock. In February 2009 he won the competition with

Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. As a junior, he was named a consensus All-America ...

and

Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional basketball player, Smith's prima ...

. In 1999, Laimbeer was inducted into the

Michigan Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn, presid ...

. Laimbeer is a former

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for the Pistons and was a studio analyst for

in 2003.

Coaching career

Detroit Shock (2002–2009)

In the middle of the 2002 WNBA season, Laimbeer took over the head coaching position for the

. A year later, he led the franchise to its first

WNBA championship The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

and was named

that year. It marked the first time in WNBA history that a team other than

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

won the title. On September 9, 2006, Laimbeer led the Shock to their second WNBA championship against the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mona ...

in five games. Two years later, on October 5, 2008, Laimbeer led the team to its third league championship in six years by defeating San Antonio. Laimbeer has talked about the possibility of one day coaching in the NBA. The

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

' former team president, former Piston teammate Isiah Thomas, once considered Laimbeer as a possibility. The Pistons, presided by former teammate

, had considered the possibility of Laimbeer replacing departing coach Larry Brown, before ultimately hiring former

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

head coach

Flip Saunders Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunders (February 23, 1955 – October 25, 2015) was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards. High schoo ...

. On June 15, 2009, Laimbeer resigned as head coach of the Detroit Shock, due to family reasons and the desire to become an NBA head coach.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2009–2012)

Though he was unable to secure an NBA head coaching position, that same year Laimbeer was offered, and accepted, an assistant coach position with the

New York Liberty (2012–2017)

In 2012, Laimbeer returned to the WNBA to become the head coach and general manager of the

, replacing John Whisenant. He quickly returned to his pugnacious ways, drawing a fine for saying Minnesota Lynx player

Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx, who is currently on sabbatical. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the greates ...

"should get hurt" for playing late into a game in which the Lynx easily defeated the Liberty. On October 14, 2014, the Liberty parted ways with Laimbeer after two seasons, but he was rehired as the Liberty head coach on January 8, 2015.

Las Vegas Aces (2018–2021)

On October 17, 2017, the then-unnamed

announced Laimbeer as head coach and President of Basketball Operations. Laimbeer coached the Aces through 2021.After the 2021 season Laimbeer retired from coaching

Coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;",

DES Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include: People * Des Buckingham, English football manager * Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician * Des Dillon (disambiguation), sever ...

, style="text-align:left;",

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, 22, , 9, , 13, , , , style="text-align:center;", 8th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34, , 25, , 9, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 8, , 6, , 2, , , style="text-align:center;", Won

WNBA Championship The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, 34, , 17, , 17, , , , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, 34, , 16, , 18, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Eastern, , 2, , 0, , 2, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Semifinals , - style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34, , 23, , 11, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Eastern, , 10, , 7, , 3, , , style="text-align:center;", Won

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, 34, , 24, , 10, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 11, , 6, , 5, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

, - style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34, , 22, , 12, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 9, , 7, , 2, , , style="text-align:center;", Won

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, 4, , 1, , 3, , , , style="text-align:center;", (resigned), , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", , - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 34, , 11, , 23, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 34, , 15, , 19, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, 34, , 23, , 11, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 5, , 3, , 2, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

Conference Finals Conference Finals may refer to: * NBA Conference Finals, National Basketball Association * NHL Conference Finals The National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship series of the NHL. ...

, - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, 34, , 21, , 13, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 1, , 0, , 1, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Second Round , - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, 34, , 22, , 12, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 1, , 0, , 1, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Second Round , - , style="text-align:left;",

LVA LVA is the abbreviation of: * Lake View Academy, a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school in Bukidnon, Philippines * Land-vertebrate age, age of a rock formation determined by biochronology * Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, a public high school in Las ...

, style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, 34, , 14, , 20, , , , style="text-align:center;", 6th in Western, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 34, , 21, , 13, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Western, , 5, , 2, , 3, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, 22, , 18, , 4, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Western, , 8, , 3, , 5, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:left;" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, 32 , , 24 , , 8 , , , , style="text-align:center;" , 1st in Western , , 5 , , 2 , , 3 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 521 , , 306 , , 215 , , , , , , 68 , , 37 , , 31 , , , ,

References

External links

WNBA.com coach profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laimbeer, Bill 1957 births Living people American agnostics American expatriate basketball people in Italy American male television actors American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from California Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball coaches from Massachusetts Basketball players from California Basketball players from Illinois Basketball players from Boston Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Detroit Pistons announcers Detroit Pistons players Detroit Shock head coaches Las Vegas Aces coaches Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coaches National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association players with retired numbers New York Liberty head coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Clarendon Hills, Illinois People from Palos Verdes, California Sportspeople from Boston Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Women's National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches Women's National Basketball Association general managers

Early life

College career

Professional career

Brescia (1979–1980)

Cleveland Cavaliers (1980–1982)

Detroit Pistons (1982–1993)

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Post-playing life

Coaching career

Detroit Shock (2002–2009)

Minnesota Timberwolves (2009–2012)

New York Liberty (2012–2017)

Las Vegas Aces (2018–2021)

Coaching record

See also

References

External links