Lanard Copeland (born July 26, 1965) is an American-Australian 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. Born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, he played in the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1992 to 2008.

Playing career

Early years

Copeland played four years of college basketball for

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

before going undrafted in the 1989 NBA draft. He later signed as a free agent with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

out of the Southern California Summer Pro League. He played in 23 games for the 76ers as a rookie in 1989–90, averaging 3.2 points per game. For the 1990–91 season, Copeland joined the Tulsa Fast Breakers of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball mi ...

(CBA). However, on December 3, 1990, he was traded to the

Rapid City Thrillers The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basketball As ...

. Following the conclusion of the 1990–91 CBA season, he joined the Atlanta Trojans of the United States Basketball League. On August 30, 1991, Copeland signed with the

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

. His stint with the Clippers lasted just three months as he was waived by the team on December 3, 1991. Copeland returned to the CBA in December 1992, signing with the

Capital Region Pontiacs The Albany Patroons are a professional basketball team that plays in The Basketball League (TBL). Previously, the team competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The Patroons won ...

NBL

In 1992, Copeland moved to Australia where he joined the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...

, a team he remained with until 2005. During his time with the Tigers, Copeland played 449 games over 14 seasons, recording 9,862 points, 1,763 rebounds, 1,438 assists and 233 blocked shots. He won league championships in 1993 and 1997, and was named the NBL Grand Final MVP in 1997. He was also a member of the All-NBL First Team in 1999 and 2002.VICKERMAN, COPELAND JOIN THE SYDNEY KINGS
/ref> Copeland departed the Tigers following the

2004–05 NBL season The 2004–05 NBL season was the 27th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 11 teams contested the league, the Victoria Giants has been folded. Regular season The 2004-05 regular season took place over 21 rounds betw ...

and joined the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

for the 2005–06 season. He played just one season for Brisbane before joining the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

for the 2006–07 season. He played two seasons for Adelaide, retiring from the NBL following the 2007–08 NBL season. In 532 career NBL games over 17 seasons, Copeland averaged 20.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. His 10,735 points are ranked fourth all-time in NBL history.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Copeland went on to serve as

Phil Smyth Philip John Smyth AM (born 11 May 1958) is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He won three National Basketball League (NBL) championships with the Canberra Cannons before going on to be a three-time championship-w ...

's assistant at the ACB Academy, head coach of the Altona Gators’ men's

Big V Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...

team,Lanard Copeland to Lead Broncos in 2014
/ref> and head coach of the Haileybury College men's team which won the Victorian High School championship in 2014. On 6 April 2016, Copeland was named an assistant coach of the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

, appointed alongside

Dean Vickerman Dean Vickerman (born 5 July 1971) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of Melbourne United of the National Basketball League (NBL). He was born and spent his early life in Warragul, Victoria. ...

to serve under newly-appointed head coach Andrew Gaze, Copeland's long-time teammate at the Melbourne Tigers. Copeland left the Kings when Gaze stepped down as coach after the

2018–19 NBL season The 2018–19 NBL season was the 41st season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams have contested the league. The regular season had been played between October 2018 and February 2019, followed ...

References

External links

Lanard Copeland
at nbl.com.au
Lanard Copeland
at foxsportspulse.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Lanard 1965 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players African-American basketball players American emigrants to Australia American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Australian men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Brisbane Bullets players Capital Region Pontiacs players Georgia State Panthers men's basketball players Los Angeles Clippers players Melbourne Tigers players Philadelphia 76ers players Rapid City Thrillers players Shooting guards Basketball players from Melbourne Tulsa Fast Breakers players Undrafted National Basketball Association players American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Philippine Basketball Association imports TNT Tropang Giga players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople