Robert Pack
Pack in 2011 as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. | |
New Orleans Pelicans | |
---|---|
Position | Assistant coach |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born |
New Orleans, Louisiana | February 3, 1969
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
Alfred Lawless (New Orleans, Louisiana) |
College |
Tyler JC (1987–1989) USC (1989–1991) |
NBA draft | 1991 / Undrafted |
Playing career | 1991–2005 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1991–1992 | Portland Trail Blazers |
1992–1995 | Denver Nuggets |
1995–1996 | Washington Bullets |
1996–1997 | New Jersey Nets |
1997–2000 | Dallas Mavericks |
2000–2001 | Denver Nuggets |
2002 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
2003 | New Orleans Hornets |
2004 | New Jersey Nets |
2003–2004 | Valencia BC |
2004–2005 | Žalgiris Kaunas |
As coach: | |
2009–2010 | New Orleans Hornets (assistant) |
2010–2013 | Los Angeles Clippers (assistant) |
2013–2015 | Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant) |
2015–present | New Orleans Pelicans (assistant) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Robert John Pack, Jr. (born February 3, 1969) is an American retired professional basketball player and an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6 ft 2 in tall point guard had a thirteen-season career in the association.
High school and college career
Pack attended Alfred Lawless High School in New Orleans.[1] He was a high school team mate of future NBA player Eldridge Recasner and graduated from Lawless in 1987. He then attended Tyler Junior College for two years, transferred to the University of Southern California in 1989, and graduated with a degree in sociology in 1991.[2] He averaged 13.4 points per game and 5.3 assists in his 2 seasons at USC.
Professional Career
Early career
Pack was not drafted by an NBA team, rather he began his career being signed as a free agent by the Portland Trail Blazers on September 16, 1991. He made the team beating out veteran Walter Davis and played 72 games for the Blazers as a rookie, averaging 4.6 PPG in 12.4 MPG as he was entrenched behind veterans Terry Porter and Danny Ainge. The Blazers went to the NBA Finals that year, before losing the series 4–2 to the Chicago Bulls. During the 1992 off-season, after the Blazers signed free agent point guard Rod Strickland, Pack was traded to the Nuggets for a 1993 second-round draft pick.
Mid career
Pack spent three seasons with the Nuggets from 1992–93 through until 1994–95, with his minutes and games started increasing each season. He was part of a young Nuggets team starring Dikembe Mutombo, LaPhonso Ellis and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf that went on to become the first eighth-seeded team in NBA history to defeat the first-seeded team as the Nuggets defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the 1994 Western Conference Playoffs. Pack was then traded to the Washington Bullets for Doug Overton and Don MacLean on October 30, 1995. Injuries slowed Pack during the prime years of his career, as he never managed to play a full 82-game season. In 31 games for the Bullets, Pack averaged 18.1ppg, 7.8apg, 4.3rpg and 2.00spg in what was his best season statistically. Prior to the 1996–97 season he was signed by the New Jersey Nets before being traded mid-season in a blockbuster trade to the Dallas Mavericks along with Shawn Bradley, Ed O'Bannon and Khalid Reeves for Sam Cassell, Chris Gatling, Jim Jackson, George McCloud and Eric Montross. Pack remained with the Mavericks through the end of the 1999–00 season, never playing more than the 54 games he played in 1996–97 as injuries slowed his career.
Late career
Pack returned to the Nuggets for the 2000–01 season after being traded by the Mavericks via the Boston Celtics. He played 74 games that season, starting 11 of them as a replacement for starting point guard Nick Van Exel. The Minnesota Timberwolves signed him in the off-season and he played 16 games for them in 2001–02. His final two seasons in the NBA were as a veteran backup point guard off the bench for the New Orleans Hornets (2002–03) and the New Jersey Nets (2003–04). On October 2, 2005, Pack signed a contract with the Toronto Raptors for a try out with the team. His stint with the Raptors was short-lived as he was cut by the team on October 22. He finished off his career in NBA. From 2004 to 2005 he played in Kauno "Zalgiris" in Lithuania.
Coaching Career
In August 2009, Pack joined the New Orleans Hornets as an assistant coach.[3] He became an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers the next season.[4] On July 31, 2013, he became an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder.[5]
On June 22, 2015, he returned to the now New Orleans Pelicans as an assistant coach.[6]
Other
Pack was known as one of the game's better dunkers during the first half of the 1990s and one of the more spectacular in-game dunkers of all time among smaller players, due largely to his outstanding vertical leap and lateral quickness. He finished second in the 1994 NBA Slam Dunk Contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, behind Isaiah Rider.
He achieved two triple-doubles in his career.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ Smith, Sarah E. "Sonic Report / Seattle 118, Washington 100 -- Family Makes Pack Feel At Home In Puget Sound." The Seattle Times. Sunday December 24, 1995. Retrieved on April 1, 2013. "Pack was a prep teammate of former Washington Husky Eldridge Recasner, now of the Houston Rockets. He was a sophomore starter at Lawless High School in New Orleans when Recasner was a senior."
- ↑ "Robert Pack bio". NBA. 2001.
- ↑ Robert Pack named Hornets assistant coach
- ↑ "Clippers add 3 assistant coaches". ESPN. August 13, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
- ↑ Thunder Announces Additions to Coaching Staff
- ↑ "Alvin Gentry officially adds Darren Erman and Robert Pack to staff". NBA.com. June 22, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
- ↑ Triple-Doubles (Since the 1986–87 Season) – Basketball-Reference.com Archived January 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
- Robert Pack profile on NBA.com
- NBA historical playerfile
- Basketball-Reference.com: Robert Pack Statistics
- Remembering Robert Pack, a Bullet flash in the pan @ BulletsForever.com