Marcus John Iavaroni (born September 15, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player and former head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as an assistant coach for several NBA teams.
.jpg) Iavaroni in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 15, 1956 Jamaica, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | John F. Kennedy (Plainview, New York) |
| College | Virginia (1974–1978) |
| NBA draft | 1978: 3rd round, 55th overall pick |
| Drafted by | New York Knicks |
| Playing career | 1978–1992 |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 8, 32, 43 |
| Coaching career | 1992–2013 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1978–1980 | Basket Brescia |
| 1981–1982 | Fulgor Libertas Forlì |
| 1982–1984 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1984–1986 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1986–1989 | Utah Jazz |
| 1989 | Olimpia Milano |
| 1990–1991 | Caja de Ronda Málaga |
| 1991–1992 | Sioux Falls Skyforce |
Coaching | |
| 1992–1994 | Bowling Green (assistant) |
| 1997–1999 | Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant) |
| 1999–2002 | Miami Heat (assistant) |
| 2002–2007 | Phoenix Suns (assistant) |
| 2007–2009 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2009–2010 | Toronto Raptors (assistant) |
| 2010–2013 | Los Angeles Clippers (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 2,328 (4.4 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,725 (3.2 rpg) |
| Assists | 514 (1.0 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
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 after playing four seasons in Europe, was an important role player as a rookie on the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers championship team, where he started 77 games in the regular season. In the 1983 NBA Finals, Iavaroni averaged 5.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in a four-game sweep.[1] He later played for the San Antonio Spurs, where he averaged career-highs of 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in 1985, and the Utah Jazz.[2]
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.[3] On January 22, 2009, he was fired by the Grizzlies after an 11–30 start to the 2008–09 season.[4][5]
On June 5, 2009, the Toronto Raptors announced that Iavaroni would become an assistant coach to Jay Triano.[5]
On July 17, 2010, the Los Angeles Clippers announced that Iavaroni would become an assistant coach to newly hired Vinny Del Negro.[6] He remained in that role until 2013.
Career playing statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won an NBA championship |
NBA
editSource[2]
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83† | Philadelphia | 80 | 77 | 20.2 | .462 | .000 | .690 | 4.1 | 1.0 | .4 | .6 | 5.1 |
| 1983–84 | Philadelphia | 78 | 71 | 19.6 | .463 | .000 | .740 | 4.0 | 1.2 | .5 | .7 | 5.1 |
| 1984–85 | Philadelphia | 12 | 10 | 13.0 | .387 | – | 1.000 | 2.4 | .5 | .3 | .3 | 2.5 |
| San Antonio | 57 | 33 | 20.7 | .464 | .000 | .664 | 4.8 | 2.0 | .5 | .6 | 6.7 | |
| 1985–86 | San Antonio | 42 | 7 | 15.9 | .454 | .000 | .642 | 3.1 | 1.3 | .5 | .3 | 4.5 |
| Utah | 26 | 2 | 13.3 | .444 | – | .688 | 3.0 | 1.1 | .4 | .1 | 4.0 | |
| 1986–87 | Utah | 78 | 0 | 10.8 | .465 | .000 | .672 | 2.2 | .5 | .2 | .1 | 3.6 |
| 1987–88 | Utah | 81 | 71 | 15.3 | .464 | .000 | .788 | 3.3 | .8 | .3 | .3 | 4.5 |
| 1988–89 | Utah | 77 | 50 | 10.3 | .442 | .000 | .818 | 1.7 | .4 | .1 | .2 | 2.3 |
| Career | 531 | 321 | 15.8 | .459 | .000 | .710 | 3.2 | 1.0 | .3 | .4 | 4.4 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983† | Philadelphia | 13 | 21.8 | .558 | – | .500 | 4.4 | 1.5 | .6 | .5 | 5.2 | |
| 1984 | Philadelphia | 4 | 16.0 | .467 | .500 | .875 | 2.0 | .8 | .3 | .3 | 5.5 | |
| 1985 | San Antonio | 5 | 5 | 23.2 | .536 | .000 | .750 | 5.2 | 2.6 | 1.0 | .4 | 9.0 |
| 1986 | Utah | 4 | 0 | 18.3 | .313 | – | .750 | 2.3 | 1.5 | .3 | .0 | 3.3 |
| 1987 | Utah | 5 | 0 | 9.4 | .400 | – | .667 | 2.6 | .8 | .0 | .6 | 2.0 |
| 1988 | Utah | 11 | 11 | 12.5 | .552 | – | .857 | 1.7 | 1.3 | .2 | .2 | 4.0 |
| 1990 | Utah | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | – | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 43 | 16 | 16.8 | .503 | .250 | .716 | 3.1 | 1.4 | .4 | .3 | 4.7 | |
Head coaching record
edit| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | 2007–08 | 82 | 22 | 60 | .268 | 5th in Southwest | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Memphis | 2008–09 | 41 | 11 | 30 | .268 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 123 | 33 | 90 | .268 | — | — | — | — |
References
edit- ↑ 1983 NBA Finals
- 1 2 "Mark Iavaroni NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
- ↑ Griz hire Iavaroni as coach Archived October 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Memphis Grizzlies fire coach Marc Iavaroni – ESPN
- 1 2 Toronto Raptors hire Marc Iavaroni as assistant to Jay Triano – ESPN
- ↑ "Clippers add Iavaroni as assistant to del Negro". July 18, 2010.