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The New Orleans Hornets announced today that New Orleans Pack has been named an assistant coach for the 2009-10 season.
Pack, 40, joins Byron Scott’s staff after a one-year assistant coach stint with the NBA Developmental League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Vipers finished 21-29 last season.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to coach in the NBA,” Pack said. “It’s always been my dream and to have the chance to do so in my hometown is something I’m really grateful for. I’m really excited for the season to start and I just have to thank Coach Scott for such a great opportunity.”
Pack played 13 seasons as a point guard in the NBA. During the 2002-03 season, he played in 28 games and had four starts for the Hornets, averaging 5.2 points and 2.9 assists. Pack was a former high school standout at Lawless and played in college at USC.
Nicknamed “Pac-Man”, Pack played for seven different teams during his career—the Hornets, Denver, Portland, New Jersey, Washington, Dallas and Minnesota. Pack holds averages of 8.9 points, 4.6 assists and 2.0 rebounds over 552 career games.
Pack was a member of the 1991-92 Portland team that advanced to the NBA Finals, while with Denver, he was a member of the 1993-94 squad that made NBA history as the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Pack also participated in the 1994 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in Minneapolis, finishing second in the event.
At USC, Pack finished fourth on the Trojans all-time assists list (319) in just two seaons, while also becoming just the fourth player in school history to record back-to-back 100-assist seasons. He averaged 13.4 points and 5.6 assists per game while at USC. Prior to playing at USC, he played two seasons at Tyler (Texas) Junior College, earning All-State honors, and leading the Apache to a 50-11 combined record.
