Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) 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 coached in both 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) and

college 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 Athleti ...

for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with

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 ...

, ''

The NBA on TNT ''NBA on TNT'' is a branding used for broadcasts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) games, produced by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, the sports division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Sports subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and tele ...

'', Westwood One, Fox Sports Southwest,

Pac-12 Network The Pac-12 Network (P12N; also sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquart ...

, ''

The NBA on NBC The ''NBA on NBC'' is the branding used for presentations of National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by the NBC television network in the United States. NBC held broadcast rights from 1955 to 1962 and again from 1990 (when it obtai ...

'' and CSN New England. Carlesimo served as head coach of four different NBA teams, and was named Seton Hall University's "Coach of the Century." He was an assistant coach for the

United States men's Olympic basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

("The Dream Team") that won the gold medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. He was also an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs team that won three championships between 2003 and 2007.

Early coaching career

Carlesimo is a 1971 graduate of

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, where he played basketball under coach

Digger Phelps Richard Frederick "Digger" Phelps (born July 4, 1941) is an American former college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1971 to 1991. For 20 years, from 1993 to 2014, he served as an analyst on ESPN. He got the n ...

. He began his coaching career as an assistant at the school after he graduated. He received his first head coaching job when he took over New Hampshire College (now

Southern New Hampshire University Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private university between Manchester and Hooksett, New Hampshire. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, along with national accreditation for some hospitali ...

) for one year, beginning in 1975. The New Hampshire Penmen ended the 1975–1976 season with a 14–13 record and won the Mayflower Conference championship. Carlesimo also had a successful coaching stint at

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

of Staten Island, New York, a Division I school, leading the team to two NIT berths in six years as coach from 1976 to 1982. In addition, Carlesimo spent time coaching in Puerto Rico during the summers.

Seton Hall University coaching years

Carlesimo coached

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

from 1982–1994, leading the turnaround of a struggling program. The Pirates made their first ever NCAA tournament in

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 ...

, and Carlesimo was named the Big East Conference

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 ...

. In 1989, Carlesimo led the Pirates to their first-ever Final Four appearance following a 78–65 upset over the #2 seed Indiana Hoosiers coached by

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

. They advanced to the NCAA Championship game against the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

, but lost in overtime 80–79. Carlesimo was again named Big East coach of the year, following the 1989 season. During Carlesimo's tenure, the Pirates made the NCAA tournament six times, four consecutively from 1991 until 1994. After going 6–23 his first season, he turned the team into a consistent title contender and eventual tournament runner-up and number one seed. Compiling an overall record of 212–166, he was named Seton Hall's "Coach of the Century." Carlesimo was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski with the U.S. national team in the

1990 FIBA World Championship The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at the Luna Pa ...

, winning the bronze medal. He also served as an assistant coach on the 1992 Olympic " Dream Team", winning the gold medal.

NBA coaching career

On June 23, 1994, Carlesimo was hired as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. Midway into his first season with the team, the team traded long-time Blazer

Clyde Drexler Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player and the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association ...

in an effort to rebuild. However instead of falling in the standings, Carlesimo led the team to a winning record and the playoffs in his first season as an NBA head coach. He led the Blazers to the playoffs in each of his three years as their head coach, but was unable to lead the team out of the first round of the playoffs and was fired following the 1996–97 season. In 1997, Carlesimo headed to 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 ...

, again succeeding

Rick Adelman Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden ...

as head coach (Adelman had previously coached the Trail Blazers prior to Carlesimo's hiring). He coached that team until December 1999, at which point he was fired after his team got off to a losing start for the third straight year. In a practice during the 1997–98 season while Carlesimo was head coach of the Warriors, Carlesimo was attacked by Latrell Sprewell. Sprewell choked Carlesimo for nearly 15 seconds until being pulled off by several teammates, and elbowed him several minutes later. The Warriors terminated Sprewell's contract, and the NBA suspended him for one year. After leaving the Warriors, Carlesimo worked as a broadcaster and analyst with ''

'' until being hired as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich in

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 ...

. He worked with the Spurs until

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 ...

, winning three championships in five seasons (

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 ...

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 ...

and

). Spurs GM

Sam Presti Samuel Presti (born November 1, 1977) is an American basketball executive who is the current general manager of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. Presti has held the position since 2007 when he was hired at the age of 29, and was the second young ...

was hired as general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics following the 2007 championship, and hired Carlesimo as their head coach on July 5, 2007. The team broke up their core of Ray Allen and

Rashard Lewis Rashard Quovon Lewis (born August 8, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Lewis entered the NBA directly from Alief Elsik High School. He rose to prominence in the NBA as a scorer with the Seattle SuperSonics, and was later ...

which made for a difficult first season. That season, their second overall pick

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

was named NBA Rookie of the Year. The Sonics relocated to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

a year later, where they became the Oklahoma City Thunder, making him the first head coach in Thunder history. Carlesimo was fired on November 22, 2008 by the Thunder after a 1–12 start. During his time with the Sonics and Thunder, he coached the USA select basketball team that scrimmaged the US National Team in preparation for the 2007 FIBA tournament and

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. The team included

and Jeff Green of the Thunder. On May 31, 2010, Carlesimo had reached an agreement to join the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach under Jay Triano. After one season with the Raptors, he was hired as an assistant coach by the New Jersey Nets (now known as the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

). On December 27, 2012, he was promoted to interim head coach of the Nets after the firing of Avery Johnson. Carlesimo took a team floundering at 14–14, and compiled 35–19 record for a fourth-place finish in the East, earning home-court advantage for the Nets in the first round. On May 5, 2013, Nets general manager Billy King announced Carlesimo would not be retained as head coach after the team lost in their first round series against the Chicago Bulls in 7 games.

Head coaching record

College

NBA

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Seattle 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 regio ...

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Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

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Personal life

Carlesimo is married and has two sons. He is the son of

coach and athletic director

Peter A. Carlesimo Peter A. Carlesimo (September 2, 1915 – June 22, 2003) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and cross country running, and a college athletics administrator. He coached football, basketball, and cross country at the U ...

.PJ Carlesimo
. 2012–13 Brooklyn Nets media guide.

References

External links

College playing statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlesimo, P. J. 1949 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Italian descent Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania Brooklyn Nets assistant coaches Brooklyn Nets head coaches College basketball announcers in the United States College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fordham Rams football players Fordham Rams men's basketball players Golden State Warriors head coaches Guards (basketball) National Basketball Association broadcasters New Jersey Nets assistant coaches Oklahoma City Thunder head coaches Portland Trail Blazers head coaches San Antonio Spurs assistant coaches Seattle SuperSonics head coaches Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball coaches Southern New Hampshire Penmen men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Scranton, Pennsylvania Toronto Raptors assistant coaches Wagner Seahawks men's basketball coaches

Early coaching career

Seton Hall University coaching years

NBA coaching career

Head coaching record

College

NBA

Personal life

See also

References

External links