Learn about the current Indiana Pacers assistant coach and 3x NBA champion with an extensive 30+ year NBA coaching career.
Jim Boylen is currently an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers and is a 3x NBA champion as an assistant coach in the NBA, and he’s known for his defensive mentality.
In this article, you’ll learn about Coach Boylen and his 37-year coaching career in the colligate and NBA levels.
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Michigan State (1987-1992)
Boylen, a Michigan native began his coaching career with the Michigan State Spartans men’s basketball team as a graduate assistant in 1987 and was promoted to assistant coach in 1989. In his 5 years with the team:
1987-1998: Record of 10–18 (5–13 Big Ten).
1988-1989: Record of 18–15 (6–12 Big Ten).
1989-1990: Record of 28–6 (15–3 Big Ten), reached the sweet sixteen, and were Big Ten Champions.
1990-1991: Record of 19–11 (11–7 Big Ten) and Oldsmobile Spartan Classic champions.
1991-1992: Record of 15–13 (7–11 Big Ten) and were Maui Invitational and Oldsmobile Spartan Classic champions
Houston Rockets (1992-2003)
In 1992, Boylen was hired as an assistant coach for Rudy Tomjanovich’s coaching staff in Houston. In his first season, the Rockets went 55–27 and finished second in the western conference, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics 4-3 in the semi-finals.
The Rockets won their first NBA championship in 1994 against Pat Riley’s New York Knicks in 7 games in the finals. They returned to the NBA finals the next year in 1995, defeating the Orlando Magic in 4 games, making this the team’s and Boylen’s 1st and 2nd NBA championship.
The Rockets would make a few more playoff appearances and one western conference finals before being eliminated by the Utah Jazz, who ended up losing to the Chicago Bulls. Starting in 1999, the team would go on a 4 year playoff drought until 2004 under Jeff Van Gundy.
Coach Tomjanovich parted ways with the Rockets after the 2002-2003 season when he was diagnosed with Bladder cancer, which he made a full recovery later on. He spent 33 years with the organization as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
This season was also Boylen’s last, having spent 11 seasons with the Rockets and helped them win 2 NBA championships. He coached Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Horry, Vernon Maxwell, Otis Thorpe, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Cuttino Mobley, Scottie Pippen, Steve Francis, and Yao Ming.
Boylen also coached future NBA coaches on those Houston teams such as Scott Brooks, Sam Cassell, Tracy Murray, Mark Bryant, Mario Elie, Chris Jent, and James Posey.
Golden State Warriors (2003-2004)
For the 2003-2004 season, Boylen was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors under head coach Eric Musselman. The team finished 12th in the western conference with a 37–45 record, missing the playoffs.
Despite spending only one year with the Warriors, Boylen had the opportunity to coach Jason Richardson, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, Clifford Robinson, Calbert Cheaney, and Nick Van Exel.
Milwaukee Bucks (2004-2005)
Boylen moved on to the Milwaukee Bucks and became an assistant coach for Terry Porter. He coached notable players in Michael Redd, Joe Smith, Zaza Pachulia, and Toni Kukoč.
The team was expected to make the playoffs, however they finished 13th place in the eastern conference with a record of 30–52. The Milwaukee Bucks fired Terry Porter in the 2005 off-season.
Return to Michigan State (2005-2007)
Boylen returned to Michigan State and was an assistant coach for head coach Tom Izzo, who were both assistants under Jud Heathcote, during Boylen’s first stint.
The Spartans reached the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
Utah State (2007-2011)
In 2007, Boylen was hired to be the head coach of the Utah Utes men’s basketball team
The team finished the 2008-2009 season with a 24–10 record, became Mountain West Conference (MWC) tournament champions, and reached the first around of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to the Arizona Wildcats.
Despite the great year in 2009, the team slowly declined with records of 14–17 in 2010 and 13–18 in 2011, losing in the quarter-finals in both seasons to UNLV and San Diego State respectively.
Boylen was fired after 2 consecutive losing seasons after the 2010-2011 season, he was replaced with Larry Krystkowiak.
Indiana Pacers (2011-2013)
Frank Vogel was in his first full time year as the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, after serving as an assistant and the interim after Jim O’Brien’s firing earlier that year in January. Boylen was named an assistant coach.
The Pacers lost to the Miami Heat in the playoffs for 3 straight years in the semi-finals, and two conference finals. Before leaving for the Spurs, Boylen notably coached Paul George, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Lance Stephenson, George Hill, and David West.
San Antonio Spurs (2013-2015)
In 2013, Boylen was hired by Gregg Popovich to join his coaching staff in San Antonio. The Spurs won the 2014 championship, the team’s 5th, and Boylen’s 3rd overall.
He had notably coached Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili. He only remained for 2 seasons before being hired to Fred Hoiberg’s staff in Chicago.
Chicago Bulls (2015-2018)
In 2015, Boylen was hired as the associate head coach on Fred Hoiberg’s staff. In Hoiberg’s first season, the team finished 9th place with a record of 42–40, only 3 games away from qualifying from the playoffs.
In 2016, the Bulls finished in 8th place with a record of 41–41, throwing away a 2-0 series lead to the Boston Celtics 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs. Jimmy Butler was traded in the 2017 off-season, which the Bulls took a huge hit and found themselves in 13th place with a record of 27–55, missing the playoffs.
Fred Hoiberg was fired during his 4th season with the Bulls on December 3, 2018, the team named Boylen as the interim head coach. The Bulls would finish the rest of the season in 13th place with a record of 22–60, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls (2019-2020)
In 2019, Boylen was in his first year as the full time head coach of the Bulls. With only the first couple of weeks into the season, Boylen was publicly and privately criticized for his use of a “punch clock” and his practice and training methods which included a “boot camp” mentality.
Because of these conditions, players had complained to the NBAPA (players association) and were considering a mutiny to protest Boylen’s level of intensity, however it ended up in team meetings. Boylen and Lavine also had a “tense” relationship during the season.
In that same season, the Bulls suffered the worst loss in franchise history with 56 points against the Boston Celtics on the second night of a back to back, to add insult to injury, they were playing in their own arena in Chicago.
The season was temporarily stopped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team finished 11th place with a record of 22–43.
In a 2022 interview, Boylen admitted there were things he would have changed about his Bulls tenure, but also claims he coached the team exactly how the front office wanted it. Boylen also revealed his brother Freddy passed away due to cancer in July, shortly after being fired from the Bulls.
FIBA & Team USA (2015, 2023)
Boylen served an assistant coach for Team Canada under Jay Triano for the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, which also served as the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament.
In 2023, he was the head coach for USA Basketball’s FIBA World Cup Qualifying teams, he finished with a coaching record of 9-3, clinching a berth in the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup.
Return to the Indiana Pacers (2023-)
Boylen returned to the Pacers as a coaching consultant for Rick Carlisle in 2022, then was promoted to assistant coach in 2023 after assistant coach Ronald Nored left to join Quin Snyder’s staff in Atlanta.
Boylen can be seen in the second row of coaches, behind the bench, where he usually has a iPad ready to go to recap and play clips during timeouts. The Pacers made it to the eastern conference finals in 2024, losing to the Celtics 4-0.
When you hear the name Jim Boylen, most people think of his head coaching tenure with the Chicago Bulls. Despite the chaotic year, it shouldn’t be the only thing that Jim Boylen should be remembered for, just like every coach, he’s contributed to the game.
Thumbnail Credit: Denniscabrams via Wikimedia Commons
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