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.
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 circa 1988
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 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.
.jpg)
