Welcome to the good guys, Coach Stack!
I recently wrote about former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts joining the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach after being on the business end of the Golden Empire’s reign over the last decade.
But we also gotta talk abut the Warriors adding Jerry Stackhouse to Golden State’s coaching staff, a former All-Star who has been working his way through the coaching ranks. The #3 overall pick in the 1995 draft has been an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies before coaching in the NCAA with Vanderbilt.
Now he’s joining the Dubs with Stotts to support head coach Steve Kerr’s quest to bring ring #5 to Stephen Curry and co.
Stack was a beast as a player with a fantastic NBA career spanning 18 seasons.
- Games Played: 970
- Points Per Game (PPG): 16.9
- Rebounds Per Game: 3.2
- Assists Per Game: 3.3
- Steals Per Game: 0.9
- Field Goal Percentage: 40.9%
- Free Throw Percentage: 82.2%
Stackhouse laced ‘em up for several teams, including the 76ers, Pistons, Wizards, Mavericks, Bucks, and Nets, earning two All-Star selections (2000, 2001). He was known as a versatile shoulder who would never back down from a challenge. The former North Carolina Tar Heel standout was even touted as the next Michael Jordan! Which is funny considering they actually joined forces when MJ joined the Washington Wizards in his twilight years.
Stack also was a major problem for the Warriors during his time in the league, averaging 18.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 25 games versus the Warriors in his career per Stat Muse.
He was also a member of the #1 seeded Dallas Mavericks who were overthrown by the #8 seeded Dubs in the We Believe season.
I vividly remember Stackhouse (and Josh Howard) being the only Mavericks who seemed to have the internal fortitude and skillset to match the feisty, physical energy of those rugged Warriors. Stackhouse averaged 14.3 points per game in that series. He was not intimidated, even though his efforts were ultimately futile as the Mavs fell in six games in one of the greatest upsets in NBA history.
This was echoed in his interview with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their Showtime show All The Smoke:
It’s great that Stack has a chance now to join the Dubs and find himself on the right side of Golden State’s magic. After an excellent career as a player, hopefully this Warriors gig propels his coaching career to the next level.