Marc Iavaroni
Marcus John Iavaroni is a retired American professional basketball player and former head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. He has also served as an assistant coach for several NBA teams. He is of Italian heritage.
Iavaroni was a star player at Plainview, New York's John F. Kennedy High School in the 1970s and a teammate of Seth Greenberg.
Iavaroni, who joined the NBA at age 26, was an important role player on the successful Philadelphia 76ers teams in the early and middle 80s. He also played for the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz, in a career which included a starting role as a rookie on the 76ers' 1983 NBA Championship team.
Iavaroni also played professionally in Brescia, Forlì and Málaga before retiring in 1992, playing a total of six seasons in Italy and Spain: four after his college career and two following his NBA career.
His coaching career began as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia. Following his playing career, he was also an assistant coach for two seasons at Bowling Green State University from 1992 to 1994.
The first NBA coaching experience for Iavaroni came in 1997, when he was hired as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant, working mainly with forwards. In 1999, he moved to the front office of the Miami Heat as director of player development. Since 2002, he served as an assistant to Mike D'Antoni at the Phoenix Suns.
On May 30, 2007, Iavaroni was named the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. However, on January 22, 2009, he was fired by the Grizzlies after an 11–30 start to the 2008–09 season.
On June 5, 2009, the Toronto Raptors announced that Iavaroni would become an assistant coach to Jay Triano.
On July 17, 2010, the Los Angeles Clippers announced that Iavaroni would become an assistant coach to newly hired Vinny Del Negro. He remained in that role until 2013.Head coaching record
