Detroit
Pistons
name
Dwane
Casey as
Head
Coach
DETROIT
- The
Detroit
Pistons
announced
today an
agreement
with
Dwane
Casey to
join the
organization
as Head
Coach.
Casey,
who will
be
formally
introduced
at a
news
conference
in
Detroit
next
week, is
expected
to start
immediately
with
player
meetings
and
staff
development
starting
this
week.
“Dwane
is one
of the
most
successful
and
highly
respected
coaches
in our
league,”
said
Pistons
Owner
Tom
Gores.
“He’s a
great
communicator
and a
leader
who will
connect
with our
players
and
accelerate
their
growth.
Having
spent
many
hours
with
Dwane
over the
last few
weeks,
I’m
confident
he is
the
right
person
to get
us to
the next
level.
“In
our
meetings
he
displayed
great
insight
into
what
this
roster
can
accomplish,
and
great
passion
about
our city
and the
team’s
role in
bringing
people
together,”
Mr.
Gores
said.
“He’s an
outstanding
man with
impressive
character.
He
embodies
our
culture
and will
be a
great
representative
for our
franchise.”
Mr.
Casey,
who led
the
Toronto
Raptors
to 59
wins in
the most
recently
completed
season,
is a
finalist
for the
NBA’s
2018
Coach of
the Year
Award,
which
will
presented
on June
25 at
the
league’s
awards
dinner
in Los
Angeles.
Last
month,
he was
named
the
Coach of
the Year
by the
National
Basketball
Coaches
Association.
“I
am
excited
and
honored
to join
the
Detroit
Pistons,
a
franchise
with a
championship
history
and a
roster
that is
ready to
win
now,”
Mr.
Casey
said.
“Tom
really
won me
over
with his
vision
for the
team and
the
city. He
clearly
wants to
deliver
for the
fans in
Detroit
and I
believe
in the
strength
of his
leadership
to do
so.
“I’m
confident
that
this
team has
the
pieces
in place
to
compete
at a
very
high
level,”
Mr.
Casey
added.
“There
is a lot
of
talent,
a solid
core and
some
exciting
young
players
eager to
get
better.
We’re
getting
to work
right
away on
the
things
that
will
make us
all
successful.”
Casey,
61, has
served
as a
head
coach,
associate
head
coach or
assistant
coach in
the NBA
for 23
of the
past 24
years.
He has
coached
in two
NBA
Finals
(1996
and
2011)
and
three
NBA
All-Star
games
(1996,
1998 and
2018).
Casey
most
recently
served
as head
coach of
the
Toronto
Raptors
from
2011-2018
where he
compiled
a
320-238
(.573)
regular-season
record
and led
the
Raptors
to a
franchise-record
five
consecutive
playoff
appearances,
including
a trip
to the
2016
Eastern
Conference
Finals.
The
all-time
winningest
coach in
Raptors
history,
Casey
led
Toronto
to the
franchise’s
first
50-win
season
in
2015-16,
recorded
50-plus
wins in
each of
the last
three
seasons
and
posted a
franchise-record
59 wins
and the
top seed
in the
Eastern
Conference
in
2017-18.
Toronto
won four
Atlantic
Division
titles
during
Casey’s
tenure.
He was
named
Eastern
Conference
Coach of
the
Month
five
times,
and last
February,
became
the
first
coach in
Raptors
history
to be
selected
to coach
in the
NBA
All-Star
game.
Prior to
his
appointment
with
Toronto,
he
served
as head
coach of
the
Minnesota
Timberwolves
from
2005-07.
Casey’s
2005-06
squad
finished
in the
NBA’s
top 10
in
fewest
average
points
per game
and
lowest
opponent
field
goal
percentage.
Casey
began
his NBA
career
as an
assistant
coach
with the
Seattle
Supersonics
where he
served
from
1994-2005
under
NBA head
coaches
George
Karl,
Paul
Westphal
and Nate
McMillan.
Promoted
to
associate
head
coach in
November
2000,
nine of
his
teams in
Seattle
finished
above
.500
with
five
winning
50 or
more
games.
The 1996
squad
won the
Western
Conference
Championship
after
finishing
the
regular
season
with a
franchise
record
64
victories.
He
also
spent
three
seasons
(2008-11)
as an
assistant
with
Dallas
under
Rick
Carlisle
where he
directed
the
club’s
defense
and
helped
lead the
Mavericks
to the
2011 NBA
Championship.
Dallas
posted a
162-84
(.659)
mark
during
that
span,
winning
50 or
more
games in
each of
his
three
seasons
with the
team.
His
defensive
unit
held
opponents
to 96.0
points
per game
(6th in
the NBA)
and .450
percent
shooting
from the
field
(8th in
the NBA)
during
the
2010-11
regular
season.
In
14
seasons
as an
NBA
assistant,
Casey’s
teams
registered
a
689-427
(.617)
mark
with
eight
campaigns
of 50 or
more
wins.
His
teams
qualified
for the
playoffs
in 11 of
those 14
seasons.
Prior to
the NBA,
Casey
spent
five
seasons
as a
head
coach in
the
Japanese
Basketball
League
and
worked
with the
Japanese
national
team. In
the
summer
of 1998,
he
helped
to guide
Japan to
its
first
appearance
in the
FIBA
World
Championship,
which
marked a
first
for
Japan in
over 30
years.
A
native
of
Morganfield,
KY,
Casey
played
collegiately
at the
University
of
Kentucky.
During
his
junior
season,
the
Wildcats
amassed
30-2
record
and
captured
the 1978
NCAA
Championship.
As a
senior,
he was
named
team
captain
and won
Kentucky’s
all-academic
award.
Casey
earned a
degree
in
business
administration
in 1979.
He and
his
wife,
Brenda,
have a
daughter,
Justine
and a
son,
Zachary.