 |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 21, 1939 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | West Catholic Preparatory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Saint Joseph's (1958–1961) |
| NBA draft | 1961: undrafted |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career | 1970–2014 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1970–1979 | La Salle (men's) |
| 1979 | Los Angeles Lakers (assistant) |
| 1979–1981 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1982–1983 | Chicago Bulls |
| 1985–1990 | Loyola Marymount (men's) |
| 1990–1992 | Denver Nuggets |
| 1993–1997 | George Mason (men's) |
| 1997–1999 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| 2000–2001 | Los Angeles Stars |
| 2001–2003 | Panasonic Super Kangaroos |
| 2003 | Long Beach Jam |
| 2003–2005 | Orlando Magic (assistant) |
| 2006–2007 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2007–2009 | Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant) |
| 2009–2014 | Oregon (women's) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach:
| |
| Career coaching record | |
| NBA | 183–224 (.450) |
| WNBA | 41–27 (.603) |
| College (men's) | 285–223 (.561) |
| College (women's) | 66–92 (.418) |
Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), American Basketball Association (ABA), and Japan Basketball League (JBL). In his first year as an NBA head coach, he led a rookie Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 NBA Finals, which they won in six games for the team's first title in eight years. Westhead won titles in both the NBA and WNBA, and he is also remembered as the coach of the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) men's basketball team. Westhead is known for an unorthodox, run-and-gun style called "The System." He was nicknamed "The Professor" due to his former career as an English teacher prior to coaching and his tendency to quote Shakespeare and other literary sources while coaching. He attended Saint Joseph's University.