James Joseph Larranaga Jr. (born January 30, 1975) is an American 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 (appro ...

coach and former player who currently serves on the staff of the

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

. He was previously the top assistant coach for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He is also the son of

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

men's basketball coach Jim Larrañaga.

Early life

Larranaga was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

Career

After graduating from

St. John's Jesuit High School and Academy St. John's Jesuit High School & Academy comprises two schools on the same campus: St. John's Jesuit High School (SJJ) and St. John's Jesuit Academy (SJJA). It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo. Both are private, all-male ...

, Larranaga played college basketball for the Bowling Green Falcons alongside Antonio Daniels. Here he played all four years for his father, Jim, setting BGSU records for three-point field goals in a game, season, and career. Before his departure to Italy in 1997, Larranaga became a three-time Academic All-Mac and attained a cumulative 3.4 GPA studying business at Bowling Green State University. Larranaga joined Peristeri B.C. in Greece for the 1998–99 season. Larranaga then moved to France to play for ASVEL Villeurbanne, he also played in and won the 2000 French All-Star game. Larranaga moved back to Italy in November 2000 to join

Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

however he moved back to France to play for the

Paris Basket Racing Paris Basket Racing, or PBR, was a French professional basketball club from Paris. It was founded in 1922, as the basketball section of the sports club, multi-sports club Racing Club de Paris. The team took the name "Paris Basket Racing" in 2000. ...

. Larranaga then moved to Spain to play for CB Gran Canaria and CSF Sevilla. He then moved back to Italy to join

Pallacanestro Virtus Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the Italian basketball league system, first division of Italian basketball, the ...

and his former club

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria is an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former player ...

. He went back to Spain in 2004 to join

Real Madrid Baloncesto Real Madrid Baloncesto (English: Royal Madrid Basketball) is a Spanish professional basketball club that was founded in 1931, as a division of Real Madrid CF. They play domestically in the Liga ACB, and internationally in the EuroLeague. They a ...

where he won the Spanish National Championship. He then won the Italian National Cup with

Basket Napoli Napoli Basket may refer to: * Napoli Basket (2016) Napoli Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as GeVi Napoli, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Naples. It's the ''de facto'' successor of the Basket Napoli which was diss ...

in 2006 and 2008. Larranaga retired after spending two seasons in Eldo Caserta and appearing in various All-Star games throughout his lengthy career. In 2008 Larranaga was announced as player/manager of the Ireland team. Previous to the hiring, he was captain of the Irish national team from 2001 to 2006.

Coaching career

Larranaga entered his first season as an assistant coach with the

in 2012. He spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the Erie BayHawks of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. In two seasons with the BayHawks, Larranaga led his squad to consecutive playoff appearances while accumulating a regular-season record of 60–40. He also established team records for all-time wins (60), wins in a season (32), and player call-ups (12). During Larranaga's two years in Erie, eight different players received NBA call-ups. Prior to arriving in Erie, Larranaga served as an assistant coach at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and before that, he was head coach of the Irish National Team for two years. Larranaga spent the summer of 2012 as an assistant for the Ukraine National Team under former NBA coach

Mike Fratello Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947), nicknamed "the Czar", is an American sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional basketball coach. He is currently a part-time Color commentator, analyst for FanDuel Sports Net ...

. In 2013, Larranaga was interviewed by the Celtics to possibly replace

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...

, but Butler basketball head coach

Brad Stevens Bradley Kent Stevens (born October 22, 1976) is an American basketball executive and former coach who is currently the president of basketball operations and de facto general manager for the Boston Celtics. Born and raised in Zionsville, Indian ...

became the Celtics' new head coach. In the previous 3 seasons, Larranaga and the coaching staff led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Playoffs including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2016–2017 season. Larranaga was a top candidate to fill the head coaching positions at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

and

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

, but decided to stay in his position with the

. In July 2021, Larranaga was hired as an assistant coach under Tyronn Lue with the

Honors

France

All-Star

*All-Star game winner: 2000

Italy

Basket Napoli

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

winner: 2006

Spain

Real Madrid

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

winner:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Copa del Rey de Baloncesto The Copa del Rey de Baloncesto ( English: ''Basketball King's Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Spanish basketball teams organized by Spain's top professional league, the Liga ACB. History Originally known as the ''Copa de España de Bal ...

runner-up: 2005

Personal life

Larranaga and his wife, Sarah, married in 2017. He has two children, daughter Tia and son James, from a previous marriage.

References