Dwane Lyndon Casey (born April 17, 1957) is an American

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

who is the head coach for 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 L ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA). He is a former

NCAA basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athle ...

player and coach, having played and coached there for over a decade before moving on to the NBA. He was previously the head coach of the

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 ...

and the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

, with whom he won the

NBA Coach of the Year Award The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who le ...

in 2018.

Early years

Dwane Lyndon Casey was born on April 17, 1957, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. However, his family moved to

Morganfield, Kentucky Morganfield is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Union County, Kentucky, Union County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the county seat, seat of its county. The population was 3,285 as of the year 2010 United States Census, ...

when he was three years old. Casey graduated from Union County High School in 1975. Casey was a top recruit coming out of high school. He made the decision to commit to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

. During the 1977–78 Wildcats season, Casey helped guide the team to an NCAA Tournament Championship. He served as team captain during his senior year. During the summers, Casey worked several odd jobs to support himself, including

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

and

tobacco farming The cultivation of tobacco usually takes place annually. The tobacco is germinated in cold frames or hotbeds and then transplanted to the field until it matures. It is grown in warm climates with rich, well-drained soil. About ''4.2 million'' hec ...

. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in 1979, also receiving Kentucky's All-Academic Award that same year.NBA.com Dwane Casey
, NBA.com

Coaching career

Early career

Casey's coaching experience went back to his first coaching job at the age of 13 when Morganfield Baseball Commissioner Earl McKendree allowed the young Casey to coach a Little League team with kids just three years younger than him. He began his college coaching career in 1979 due to a suggestion made by his coach

Joe B. Hall Joe Beasman Hall (November 30, 1928 – January 15, 2022) was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at the University of Kentucky from 1972 to 1985, leading the Wildcats to a national championship in 1978. Biography Hall p ...

. Casey spent a season with Hall as an assistant coach at Kentucky. The next season, Casey made the move to Western Kentucky, where he spent the next five seasons. Casey later returned to Kentucky in 1985 where he would take the role of an assistant coach and top recruiter. In late March 1988 while still serving as an assistant coach at Kentucky, Emery Worldwide employees discovered $1,000 in cash in an envelope that was accidentally opened. The envelope was addressed to Claud Mills, the father of recruit Chris Mills, and the sender was identified as Casey. The University of Kentucky said that the evidence collected during the investigation was inconclusive, and did not prove that Casey sent the money. York, Michael.
Kentucky Loves Its Basketball, but Not at Any Price
''The Washington Post'', December 11, 1988. The scandal resulted in Casey's resignation, and Casey was then placed on probation for 5 years by the NCAA. The NCAA later rescinded the penalty after it was shown that Casey wasn't involved in sending the package. Casey also settled outside of court in a defamation suit against Emery Worldwide. The case was originally for $6.9 million.

Overseas

After his resignation from Kentucky, Casey accepted a head coaching job in the Japanese Basketball League. During his time there, Casey coached for Sekisui Chemical and Isuzu Motors Lynx that his teammate

Jack Givens Jack "Goose" Givens (born September 21, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning consensus second-team All-American honors. He led the team to the 1978 NCAA Men ...

played for. While in Japan, Casey did coaching work for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

alongside longtime friend Mototaka Kohama and veteran coach

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Univer ...

Dwane Casey Amway Center, Orlando, FL, Nov 2014

During the summers, Casey continued to work with the Japanese national team. In the summer of 1998 the team appeared in the

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

basketball tournament, which would be the team's first appearance there in over 30 years.

Return to the NBA

Casey left the Japanese Basketball League in 1994 after receiving an assistant coaching position for the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. During his tenure in Seattle, the team won four division titles. At the beginning of the

2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association. The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two to win their first NBA championship. Notable occurrences * A new league dres ...

, Casey landed his first job as head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves, replacing Kevin McHale. Casey's overall record with the team was 53–69, and he was fired on January 23, 2007, after only a season and a half with the Timberwolves. At the time of his firing, the Timberwolves were 20–20, he was replaced by assistant coach

Randy Wittman Randy Scott Wittman (born October 28, 1959) is an American former basketball player at the guard position and former coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. Playing career High school Wittman starr ...

, who went 12–30 for the rest of the season. During the

2008–09 NBA season The 2008–09 NBA season was the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, four games to one. The 2008 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2008, and Derrick Rose ...

, Casey served as an assistant coach for 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 ...

. During the

2009–10 NBA season The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1,230-game regular season (82 games for each of the 30 teams) began on October 27, 2009, and ended on April 14, 2010. The season ended when the Los Angel ...

, the Mavericks won a division title. In 2011, the Mavericks defeated the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

in the

2011 NBA Finals The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in six games to win thei ...

and won their first

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

of the Heat would later admit that Casey's defensive schemes for Dallas helped make him improve his game even further after that series.

Toronto Raptors

In early June 2011, the

decided not to pick up the option on

Jay Triano A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

's contract. Casey was named the new Raptors head coach on June 21 and would run through until the 2013–14 season. Casey's first two seasons with the Raptors involved little to no success. The team exceeded expectations in the first season and underachieved in the second. The team failed to make the playoffs both seasons. During his third season with the team, it managed to set a new team record for most wins in a season, an Atlantic Division Championship, and its first playoff appearance in six years. On May 6, 2014, a day after being eliminated from the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, Casey and the Raptors agreed to a three-year contract extension. On November 1, 2015, Casey surpassed Sam Mitchell's franchise record for wins, getting his 157th against

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 196 ...

with the score of 106–87. On March 18, 2016, Casey became the first Raptors head coach to reach 200 wins with the franchise in a 101–94 win over 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 ...

, and twelve days later, in a 105–97 win over the Atlanta Hawks, he coached the Raptors to its first 50-win season in franchise history. On May 1, 2016, Casey coached the Raptors to their first Game 7 victory in franchise history with an 89–84 win over the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the

2016 NBA Playoffs The 2016 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2015–16 season. The tournament ended with the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers defeating the defending NBA champion and Wester ...

and on May 15, he coached the Raptors to their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in franchise history with a 116–89 victory over the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs, where they fell to the eventual NBA champions

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 Central ...

in six games. On June 7, he agreed with the Raptors to a contract extension. On January 28, 2018, Casey became the first coach in Raptors history to be selected for 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, ...

. On February 11, 2018, he celebrated his 300th win as a coach for the Raptors. Casey's Raptors set franchise records for wins and points in the regular season as they finished first in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards in six games and were then swept in four games by the

led by

. Casey's conservative coaching structure and system was credited with developing the Raptors' younger players, however it did not fare well in the playoffs against the

Tyronn Lue Tyronn Jamar Lue (pronounced ''Ta-RON LEW''; born May 3, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He formerly served as ...

-coached Cavaliers who were flexible rather than being consistent. On May 11, Casey was fired as the Raptors' head coach, shortly after being named as NBCA Coach of the Year. He was named the

NBA Coach of the Year The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who le ...

at the 2018 NBA Awards.

Detroit Pistons

On June 11, 2018, Casey was named the head coach for the

, agreeing to a five-year deal. On November 14, 2018, Casey returned to

Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rapt ...

for the first time since being fired by the Toronto Raptors, coaching the Pistons to a 106–104 win over his former team. In the playoffs, the Pistons were swept in the first round by the

, while Casey's former team, Raptors, won the NBA championship against the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. On May 12, 2021, the Pistons signed Casey to a contract extension through the 2024 season.

Head coaching record

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Personal life

Casey and his family have a home in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. During the summers, Casey likes to travel to Japan to help with basketball camps and coaching clinics.

References

External links

NBA.com profile

at Basketball-Reference

at BBH {{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Dwane 1957 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Japan American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players from Kentucky Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Detroit Pistons head coaches Kentucky Democrats Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Minnesota Timberwolves head coaches People from Morganfield, Kentucky Seattle SuperSonics assistant coaches Toronto Raptors head coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople