Highly Successful Assistant Becomes Youngest Head Coach In NBA

OAKLAND, Calif. - Golden State Warriors General Manger Garry St. Jean announced today that the NBA club has named Eric Musselman as the team’s new head coach and signed the former Atlanta Hawks assistant to a multi-year contract. Musselman becomes the 21st head coach in franchise history, replacing Brian Winters, who was named interim coach of the Warriors on December 15, 2001. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Musselman, 37, begins his first venture as an NBA head coach, becoming the youngest head coach in the NBA in the process (three months younger than Seattle’s Nate McMillan). Despite his youthfulness, Musselman has garnered an extensive and impressive resume in the NBA and various other professional leagues, including most recently as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks for the last two seasons. Prior to joining the Hawks, the San Diego native spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic, serving under both Chuck Daly and Doc Rivers, helping Rivers earn NBA Coach of the Year honors during the 1999-2000 season.

“We are really excited to have Eric on board as our new head coach,” said St. Jean. “He has certainly earned the opportunity to be a head coach at the NBA level and comes highly, highly recommended by his peers. We were tremendously impressed with him during our discussions and think that, with the combination of his age, energy, enthusiasm and organizational skills, he will be a perfect fit for our team.”

Musselman began his NBA career as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1990-91 (at the age of 26), serving under his father, the late Bill Musselman, who paced NBA sidelines as a head coach for four (4) years with both the Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I really can’t express how excited I am to be a part of the Warriors family,” said Musselman. “I view this as an absolute great opportunity and a chance to be a part of something special. The Warriors have a lot of young and talented players and, hopefully, I can help provide them the direction necessary to be successful and the passion and desire that we’ll need to achieve our potential.”

In addition to his NBA experience, Musselman has enjoyed tremendous success in the CBA, where he became the youngest head coach (age 28) in professional basketball history to register 100 wins during the 1992-93 campaign. He began his CBA experience during the 1991-92 season, when he guided the Rapid City Thrillers to the first of five consecutive post-season appearances. During this stretch, the Thrillers would register the best record in the league on four occasions. Additionally, Musselman became the youngest coach (23) in CBA history upon his arrival in Rapid City.

Musselman’s final CBA coaching stint was punctuated with an appearance in the league championship series in 1997, when he guided the Florida Beachdogs to a 38-18 record. Overall, he ranks as the second winningest coach in CBA history (270-122, .688) - trailing only George Karl - and propelled his teams to a total of six division titles in seven years. Musselman also served as a dual head coach/general manager of both Rapid City and Florida during his CBA tenure, when a total of 24 of his players were promoted from the CBA to the NBA, the highest figure for any coach during that (1990-1997) period.

A graduate of the University of San Diego (1987), where he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science, Musselman also served as head coach of the Florida Sharks of the USBL to two seasons, leading the team to back-to-back championships in 1995 and 1996 and a combined 54-3 record.

Eric Musselman Bio

A young, energetic coach with an extremely successful record in basketball’s “minor leagues”, Eric Musselman was named head coach of the Golden State Warriors on July 26, 2002. Just 37-years-old at the time of his hiring, Musselman becomes the youngest current head coach in the NBA. Prior to joining the Warriors, Musselman worked two seasons as an assistant for the Atlanta Hawks after spending the prior two seasons with the Orlando Magic.

In 1998-99, Musselman was named an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic by then-head coach Chuck Daly after spending the previous campaign as a scout for the Magic. When Daly retired following the 1998-99 campaign, Musselman was retained on the staff of new head coach Doc Rivers for the 1999-2000 season.

Musselman joined the Magic after spending the previous seven years as the head coach and the previous eight years as the general manager of the Florida Beach Dogs (formerly the Rapid City Thrillers) of the Continental Basketball Association. In 1996-97, Musselman led the Beach Dogs to a 38-18 record and a trip to the CBA Finals as his squad held CBA opponents to a league-low 90.8 points per game. As the club’s general manager in 1988-89, he hired current Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders - then a college assistant - to coach the Thrillers.

As a CBA coach, Musselman posted a 270-122 record (.688), marking the second highest winning percentage in league history behind Milwaukee Bucks head coach George Karl, who coached for five seasons in the CBA.

From 1990 thru 1997, Musselman had 24 players called-up to the NBA, the highest number in the league during that span. He holds the distinction of being the only person in CBA history to coach in five league All-Star Games (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997) and was the first coach in professional basketball history to win 100 games by the age of 28. When he was 23, Musselman became the youngest coach in CBA history.

Musselman also served as head coach of the Florida Sharks of the United States Basketball League. In the summers of 1995 and 1996, he coached the Sharks to a combined 53-3 record (.946, including playoffs) and back-to-back USBL Championships. He holds the highest winning percentage in league history.

His received his first NBA coaching experience in 1990-91 as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves on the staff of his late father, Bill Musselman. The Musselmans are now the first father-son head-coaching duo in NBA history.

After graduating from the University of San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1987, Musselman took a front office job with the Los Angeles Clippers before taking on the role of assistant director of scouting.

A three-time member West Coast Athletic Conference All-Academic squad, he played in two NCAA tournaments. Following his college career, Musselman was selected by the CBA’s Albany Patroons in the fifth round (58th overall) of the 1987 Draft.

A graduate of Brecksville (Ohio) High School, Musselman and his wife, Wendy, have two sons, Michael and Matthew. He was born November 19, 1964 in Ashland, Ohio.

Source for all the above: Golden State Warriors