Victor Kaleb Canales (born July 7, 1978) is an American

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 who last served as assistant coach for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

of the

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).

Early career

Born in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the Flag of th ...

, Canales is a graduate of John B. Alexander High School. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

with a degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health i ...

. He later earned a master's degree in sports leadership from

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

. Canales began his coaching career as an assistant coach in 2001 at United High School of Laredo. The following year, Canales became an assistant coach at Martin High School also in Laredo. In 2003, Canales returned to UT Arlington to be an assistant coach.

NBA coaching career

In 2005, Canales was hired as a video intern for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western C ...

, and was eventually hired as the team's video coordinator. In 2009, he was promoted to an assistant coach for the team. In 2010, Canales served as the Trail Blazers' head coach during the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

. He was promoted to interim head coach of the Trail Blazers after head coach

Nate McMillan Nathaniel McMillan (born August 3, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005, the Portl ...

was dismissed on March 15, 2012. Canales became the youngest active head coach in the NBA and the first

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

coach in NBA history. In 2012, Portland hired

Terry Stotts Terry Linn Stotts (born November 25, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a playing as a f ...

as their head coach, but Canales remained with the team as an assistant. On May 3, 2013, Canales accepted an assistant coaching job with 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 Southwest Division. Th ...

. In 2018, Canales was hired as an assistant coach for 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 ...

under

David Fizdale David Sean Fizdale (born June 16, 1974) is an American professional basketball manager. He is currently the assistant general manager for the Utah Jazz. He previously was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, the head coach for the New Yo ...

. Canales remained with the team after Fizdale was fired in 2019 and worked under interim head coach Mike Miller. On November 13, 2020, Canales was hired as an assistant coach by the

under

Nate Bjorkgren Nate Bjorkgren (; born June 20, 1975) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of South Dakota and Buena ...

Head coaching record

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

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 23 , , 8 , , 15 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

, , — , , — , , — , , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 23 , , 8 , , 15 , , , , , , — , , — , , — , , — , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canales, Kaleb 1978 births Living people American sportspeople of Mexican descent Basketball coaches from Texas Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches High school basketball coaches in Texas Laredo Community College alumni People from Laredo, Texas Portland Trail Blazers assistant coaches Portland Trail Blazers head coaches UT Arlington Mavericks men's basketball coaches University of Texas at Arlington alumni Virginia Commonwealth University alumni