Paul Westphal
Paul Westphal (1950-2021)
Current position: Southwestern Baptist Bible College, Grand Canyon Antelopes, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics, Pepperdine Waves, Sacramento Kings
Southwestern Baptist Bible record^: 21-9 (.700)
Grand Canyon record^: 64-18 (.780)
Pepperdine record: 76-72 (.514)
Overall record^: 161-99 (.619)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (2002)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- WCC Regular Season Champion: 1 (2002)
- NAIA National Championships: 1 (1988)
- NAIA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1988)
Awards:
- AP All-American: 1 (1971)
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2019)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2018)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2014-2016 | Brooklyn Nets (asst) |
| 2009-2012 | Sacramento Kings |
| 2007-2008 | Dallas Mavericks (asst) |
| 2001-2006 | Pepperdine |
| 1998-2000 | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1992-1995 | Phoenix Suns |
| 1988-1992 | Phoenix Suns (asst) |
| 1986-1988 | Grand Canyon |
| 1985-1986 | Southwestern Baptist Bible |
Paul Westphal Facts
- Paul Douglas Westphal
- Born November 30, 1950
- Died January 2, 2021
- Hometown: Torrance, California
- Alma Mater: University of Southern California (BA, 1972)
- Westphal was a star player at Aviation HS (CA) before going on to play for Bob Boyd at USC
- Earned second-team AP All-American honors as a junior in 1971 and was All-Pac-8 three times
- Drafted 10th overall by Boston in 1972, playing three seasons for the Celtics and 12 season overall in the NBA
- Won an NBA title with the Celtics in 1974, then played against the Celtics with Phoenix in the 1976 Finals
- After Boston, Westphal played for the Suns (six years, two stints), Supersonics (one year) and Knicks (two years)
- Named an All-Star five times (1977-81), was All-NBA First Team three times and Second Team once
- Had his number #44 retired by the Phoenix Suns, the team for which he played the longest and later coached
- Head coaches he played for in the NBA include Tom Heinsohn, John MacLeod, Lenny Wilkens, Red Holzman and Hubie Brown
- Averaged 15.6 points over his career, scoring more than 14,000 total points in the regular and postseason
- Inducted as a player into the College Basketball Hall of Fame (c/o 2018) and Naismith Hall of Fame (c/o 2019)
- Got into coaching after retiring in 1984, spending one year as head coach at Southwestern Baptist Bible College (now Arizona Christian University), a NAIA program in Glendale, AZ – Westphal’s team went 21-9
- Took over at then-NAIA Grand Canyon in 1986 and in his second and final year there, led the Antelopes to a NAIA title
- Was 64-18 in his two seasons with the program before leaving for the NBA
- Was an assistant in Phoenix under Cotton Fitzsimmons for four years before taking over as the Suns’ head coach in 1992
- Led the team, led by Charles Barkley, to the NBA Finals in his first year – a loss to Michael Jordan and the Bulls
- Reached the Conference Semifinals in each of the next two seasons but was fired in 1995 after starting the season 14-19
- Coached at a high school in Arizona for two years before the SuperSonics hired him as head coach in 1998
- Went 25-25 and 45-37 in his two full seasons in Seattle; fired after a 6-9 start to the 1999-2000 season
- Returned to the college ranks in 2001, leading the Pepperdine Waves for five seasons
- Won the WCC title and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2002, but failed to return to the postseason again
- Worked in broadcast for year, then served as an assistant under Avery Johnson with the Dallas Mavericks in 2007-08
- Spent a year as Executive VP of Basketball Ops with the Mavericks before becoming head coach in Sacramento in 2009
- Missed the playoffs in two full seasons with the Kings, then was fired after a 2-5 start to the 2011-12 season
- Later on, Westphal spent two seasons under one of his own former assistants, Lionel Hollins, with the Brooklyn Nets
- Diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2020 and passed away from the disease in January 2021 at the age of 70
- Along with his wife, Cindy, has two children
Paul Westphal Coaching Tree
- Danny Ainge (Phoenix Suns)
- Gib Arnold (Hawaii, Southern Idaho)
- Lionel Hollins (Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies)
- Otis Hughley, Jr. (Alabama A&M)
- Frank Johnson (Phoenix Suns)
- Wyking Jones (California)
- Dan Majerle (Grand Canyon)
- Danny Manning (Maryland, Wake Forest, Tulsa)
- Nate McMillan (Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle SuperSonics)
- Scott Mossman (Grand Canyon, California Baptist)
- Todd Simon (Bowling Green, Southern Utah, UNLV)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at NCAA Division I and NAIA levels only; Grand Canyon competed at the NAIA level during Westphal’s tenure there