Don Casey

Don Casey
Personal information
Born (1937-06-17) June 17, 1937 (age 87)
Collingswood, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Career information
High schoolCamden Catholic High School (Camden, New Jersey)
CollegeTemple University
Coaching career1973–2000
Career history
As coach:
1973–1982Temple
1982–1983Chicago Bulls (assistant)
1983–1984San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers (assistant)
1984–1985Scavolini Pesaro
1985–1989Los Angeles Clippers (assistant)
1989–1990Los Angeles Clippers
1990–1996Boston Celtics (assistant)
1996–1999New Jersey Nets (assistant)
1999–2000New Jersey Nets

Lawrence Donald Casey (born June 17, 1937)[1] is an American former professional and collegiate basketball coach. He has coached two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, the Los Angeles Clippers and the New Jersey Nets—each for a season and a half. He had previously coached the Temple Owls from 1973 to 1982. He also worked as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls (1982–83) and Boston Celtics (1990–1996).[2][3]

Casey grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey and attended Camden Catholic High School.[4] As a young man in the 1960s, Casey coached at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, where he was recommended for a job as a JV coach by a friend and took over the varsity squad after the coach left the job. His coaching led to two state championships. Casey coached Bill Melchionni, a high school and college great who eventually played in the pros in the late 1960s with the ABA New York Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.[5]

In his first season as Temple head coach, Don Casey had his team stall with the basketball in the finals of the Volunteer Classic against Tennessee. The final score of the game was Tennessee 11, Temple 6, the lowest scoring major college basketball game since 1938.[6]

Casey was the head coach of Scavolini Pesaro of Italy's Lega Basket Serie A during the 1984–85 season.[7]

Casey was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers on January 19, 1989, succeeding Gene Shue after a 10–28 start to the 1988–89 season and in the midst of an eleven-game losing streak.[8]

As of February 2006, Casey is the vice-chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and As of October 24, 2006, Casey is the head coach of the Hollywood Fame of the American Basketball Association's 21st century incarnation.

  1. ^ Marcus, Jeff (April 28, 2003). A Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches. Scarecrow Press. p. 71. ISBN 9781461726531. Retrieved December 3, 2021 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Don Casey". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  3. ^ "Don Casey Coaching Record". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  4. ^ Anastasia, Phil. "Basketball brigadoon: Recalling Audubon’s magical courts of the 1960s", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 29, 2019. Accessed December 2, 2019. "Collingswood native and Camden Catholic graduate Don Casey, who would coach at Temple as well as with two NBA teams, was the coach at Bishop Eustace in the 1960s."
  5. ^ Howard-Cooper, Scott. "Switching Tracks : Don Casey Brings New Train of Thought to Clippers", Los Angeles Times, January 26, 1989. Accessed October 2, 2017. "He got into coaching almost by accident, taking charge of the junior varsity team at Bishop Eustace Prep in Pennsauken, N.J., as a part-time job at the suggestion of a friend. Midway through the season, the varsity coach quit, and Casey, then 21, was promoted. At a school that didn't even have its own gym when he started, Bishop Eustace won 2 state championships in 6 years."
  6. ^ "ESPN.com: Page 2 : Morrison, Redick ... Carney?". Espn.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  7. ^ "Ex-Owl Coach Casey Heading For Italy". Philadelphia Daily News. August 4, 1984.
  8. ^ "Clippers Fire Shue, Name Casey," The Washington Post, Friday, May 22, 1987. Retrieved December 4, 2020