James Mitchell Cleamons (born September 13, 1949) is an American former 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 ...

player and current coach.

Playing career

He played collegiately at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, and was selected by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

with the 13th pick of the 1971 NBA draft. He had a nine-year NBA career for four teams (the

, 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 ...

, 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 ...

, and the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

). In 1976, Cleamons was selected to the NBA All-Defense 2nd team.

Coaching career

Cleamons worked as an assistant coach for the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

from 1989 to 1996. He was the head coach of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

for slightly over one year, from 1996 to 1997. He was then the head coach of the

Chicago Condors The Chicago Condors were a very short-lived member of the American Basketball League (ABL). Their hometown was much larger than usual for the ABL, which mainly targeted mid-market cities, and initial team merchandising was successful. The team a ...

of the American Basketball league, a short-lived women's professional basketball league in the mid Nineties. He also served as an assistant coach for the

and

New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and caused extensive damage to the New Orleans Arena. As a result, the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s New Orleans Hornets were unable to play any home games at th ...

. For a few games during his tenure with the Lakers, he served as acting head coach while

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

was absent. In 2011, Cleamons became a coach in the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. In 2013, he became an assistant with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. In 2014, Cleamons joined the

coaching staff under

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los ...

. In 2017, Cleamons accepted a position as an assistant coach for the Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA) high school boys basketball team.

Head coaching record

College

NBA

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References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Jim Cleamons (as coach)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleamons, Jim 1949 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from North Carolina Basketball players from North Carolina Cleveland Cavaliers players Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Dallas Mavericks head coaches Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Furman Paladins men's basketball coaches Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches New Orleans Hornets assistant coaches New York Knicks assistant coaches New York Knicks players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players People from Lincolnton, North Carolina Washington Bullets players Youngstown State Penguins men's basketball coaches Guards (basketball) 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople