Category: Memphis Grizzlies Blog

The Memphis Grizzlies reached a buyout agreement and waived guard Steve Francis, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

The 6-3, 210-pound guard has not appeared in a game with the Grizzlies or Houston Rockets this season after he was acquired from Houston on Dec. 24, 2008 along with Memphis’ own 2009 second round draft pick and cash considerations in exchange for a conditional 2011 second round draft pick.

The 31-year-old former three-time All-Star (2002, 2003, 2004) has averaged 18.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists 37.6 minutes in 576 career games (543 starts) in nine seasons with Houston, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks.

The Grizzlies’ roster currently stands at 13 players.

The Memphis Grizzlies named Barry Hecker an assistant coach, General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

With over 35 years of basketball experience in the professional, collegiate and high school ranks, Hecker joins the Grizzlies after a stint with the China Basketball Association (CBA) where he was an assistant coach with the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons during the league’s 2008 playoffs.

Along with his work in the CBA, Hecker spent 16 seasons (1986-98, 2001-05) with the Los Angeles Clippers, first serving as the team’s director of scouting (1986-94) and then moving to the bench for four seasons (1994-98) as an assistant under head coach Bill Fitch.  Hecker would later spend four seasons (2001-05) as the club’s director of player personnel/assistant coach.

Before his first stint with the Clippers, Hecker spent two seasons (1984-86) as the player personnel director for the Cleveland Cavaliers, helping assemble a core of players including Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and Johnny “Hot Rod” Williams, that would turn the Cavaliers into a perennial Eastern Conference power in the late-1980s and early-1990s.

Hecker basketball executive experience also includes two seasons (1999-01) as the interim head coach, assistant coach and player personnel director for the Las Vegas Bandits of the International Basketball League (IBL), where he assisted current Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins in the 2000-01 season.

A popular and frequent speaker on the basketball clinic circuit, Hecker has been the director of numerous camps, including those run by Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley, Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, Xavier McDaniel and Andrei Kirilenko.  Internationally, Hecker has been invited as a guest speaker at clinics in China, Italy and Turkey.

The Washington, D.C. native received his bachelor’s degree from Frostburg State (MD) where he played basketball and baseball.  He earned his master’s degree in education from George Washington University and was a Ph.D. candidate at Florida State.  Hecker’s head coaching credits also include B.S. Leiden of the Dutch Professional League (1975) and Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah (1976-78).

The club also announced today that Andy Greer and Ron DuBois are no longer with the team and that Kevin O’Neill has been assigned to the new position of special assistant to the general manager.

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The Memphis Grizzlies have reassigned Kevin O’Neill to the new role of special assistant to the general manager, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

“Kevin O’Neill was instrumental in our draft preparations last year, which resulted in bringing O.J. Mayo and Darrell Arthur to the Grizzlies,” Wallace said. “Kevin is a very valuable resource for us. He has the rare combination of college coaching experience, as he was recently a head collegiate coach for a NCAA Tournament-caliber team, and he has a perspective of a NBA coach. We are eager to have Kevin’s input in our draft evaluation process again this year.”

O’Neill, a 29-year coaching veteran in the college and pro ranks, was named an assistant coach on June 17, 2008 after serving as the interim head coach at the University of Arizona last season, where he guided the Wildcats to a 19-15 record (.559) and the school’s 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

A seven-year veteran in the NBA coaching circles with the New York Knicks (2000-01, assistant), Detroit Pistons (2001-03, assistant), Toronto Raptors (2003-04, head coach), Indiana Pacers (2004-06, assistant) and Memphis (2008-09, assistant), O’Neill was a well-known figure on the college scene as the head coach at Marquette University (1989-94), Tennessee (1994-97) and Northwestern University (1997-2000).  The Great Midwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994 (Marquette) has also seen duty as an assistant coach at Arizona (1986-89) under Hall of Famer Lute Olson, the University of Tulsa (1985-86) and the University of Delaware (1983-85).

Memphis Grizzlies General Manager and Basketball Operations Chris Wallace today named Lionel Hollins the new head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

For Hollins, it will mark his third head coaching stint with the Grizzlies, where he was a staple in the team’s coaching ranks from 1995-07. The 20-year NBA coaching veteran has worked with current Grizzlies Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick and Kyle Lowry as an assistant under former Grizzlies Head Coaches’ Mike Fratello and Tony Barone. Hollins, who still maintains a residence in Bluff City with his family, recently spent the first half of the 2008-09 season as an assistant coach under Scott Skiles with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“We are pleased today to introduce Lionel Hollins as the next head coach of the Grizzlies. Lionel brings an impressive resume of NBA experience both as a coach and player,” Wallace said. “He has worked under some of the most successful head coaches in the history of the NBA, and he’s a former NBA champion as a player.

“He also brings extensive experience with our organization and a commitment to the city of Memphis. Lionel kept his permanent residence in Memphis while he was working with the Milwaukee Bucks. I was also very impressed with the commitment he displayed working with the young people at the Grizzlies Academy during his year off in the NBA (2007-08).”

An original member of the franchise’s inaugural 1995-96 season in Vancouver as the lead assistant, Hollins served as the club’s head coach on an interim basis on two separate occasions.   Hollins guided Vancouver to an 18-42 finish in 1999-00 (.300) after the team started the season 4-18 and again took the reins for four games in 2004-05 following the resignation of Hubie Brown.  Hollins, 55, owns an all-time record of 18-46 (.281) as the Grizzlies’ interim head coach.

Prior to joining the Grizzlies, the Arizona State graduate spent seven years with the Phoenix Suns (1988-95) as an assistant coach under Cotton Fitzsimmons and later Paul Westphal.  During that time, Phoenix compiled an overall record of 394-180 (.686) and never won fewer than 53 games in a single season.  The Suns won franchise-record 62 games in the 1992-93 season and represented the Western Conference in the 1993 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls.

The Arkansas City, Kansas native has served under three NBA Coaches of the Year, including Brown (1977, 2005), Fitzsimmons (1978, 1989) and Fratello (1986) and was on the coaching staff when Brown and Fitzsimmons were honored with the award a second time. In addition, as a 10-year NBA veteran (1975-85), Hollins was led by several notable head coaches, including Lenny Wilkens, Jack Ramsay, Billy Cunningham, Bill Fitch, Chuck Daly and Paul Silas.

Selected sixth overall in the first round of the 1975 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, Hollins earned a spot on the 1976 All-Rookie First Team and won an NBA Championship as a starter for the Trail Blazers in 1977, where he was a teammate of current Grizzlies Assistant Coach Johnny Davis.  A year later, he was an NBA All-Star while also being named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team.  Hollins averaged 11.6 points, 4.5 assists and 1.56 steals over 673 career games with Portland, Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets.

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