Jack McCloskey

Jack McCloskey

2× EPBL Most Valuable Player | NCAA & NBA Head Coach | Former Detroit Pistons General Manager

Jack McCloskey was born on September 19, 1925, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he played football. He later served as a lieutenant, commanding a landing ship for the Marines in World War II. After the war, McCloskey attended the University of Pennsylvania where he played three varsity sports, including college basketball for the Penn Quakers men’s basketball team under head coaches Robert Dougherty and Howard Dallmar.

After graduating from Penn, McCloskey played in the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League later becoming the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) playing for the Lancaster Red Roses, Pottsville Packers, and the Sunbury Mercuries. In 1949, he won a championship with the Pottsville Packers and won the EPBL Most Valuable Player in 1953 and 1954. McCloskey was also named to the All-EPBL First Team 4 times in 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1954. In 1953, he played one game for the Philadelphia Warriors.

McCloskey started coaching in 1956, becoming the head coach of the Penn Quakers basketball team and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons men’s basketball team. He served 2 seasons as the Head Coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and briefly, the Indiana Pacers, a total of 21 years of coaching in the NCAA and the NBA.

After coaching, McCloskey became the General Manager of the Detroit Pistons in 1979 where he was nicknamed “Trader Jack”, made over 30 trades in his tenure until he left the position in 1991. His most notable moves were drafting future Hall of Famers Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman and later trading three players for future all-star center and dominant rebounder Bill Laimbeer and trading superstar Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre during the 1988–89 season, significant moves that contributed to the Pistons wining 2 NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, led by legendary head coach Chuck Daly.

McCloskey later served in the front offices of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 1992–1995, and the Toronto Raptors in 2004 before fully retiring.

Coach McCloskey passed away on June 1, 2017, at the age of 91.

  • Overall Coaching Record: 264-310
    • College: 216–194
    • NBA: 48-116

Coaching Career

Jack McCloskey returned to his alma mater to become the head coach of his former team the Penn Quakers men’s basketball team, succeeding Ray Stanley. In 1966, the Quakers won the Ivy League championship.

In 12 seasons with the team, he compiled an overall coaching record of 146–105.

Coach McCloskey became the head coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons men’s basketball team, succeeding Jack Murdock. In 6 seasons with the program, McCloskey compiled an overall coaching record of 70–89.

Notable Players Coached

  • Gil McGregor (Selected 89th Overall pick in the 6th round of the 1971 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals)
  • Charlie Davis (Selected with the 120th Overall pick in the 8th round of the 1971 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers)
  • Dickie Walker (Selected with the 77 Overall pick in the 11th round of the 1970 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves)

Coach McCloskey became the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, succeeding Rolland Todd. The Blazers were set to select Future MVP and Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo with the first pick in the 1972 NBA Draft, but the sides could not come to a contract agreement, instead they selected LaRue Martin.

In his first season with the Trail Blazers, the team finished with a 21–61 record, missing the playoffs. The following season, the team finished with a 27–55 record, missing the playoffs again.

Notable Players Coached

  • Terry Dischinger
    • 3× NBA All-Star (1963–1965)
    • NBA Rookie of the Year (1963)
    • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1963)
  • Geoff Petrie
    • 2× NBA All-Star (1971, 1974)
    • 1971 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1971 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • No. 45 retired by Portland Trail Blazers
  • Sidney Wicks
    • 4× NBA All-Star (1972–1975)
    • 1972 NBA Rookie of the Year (1972)
    • 1972 NBA All-Rookie First Team (1972)
  • Larry Steele
    • 1977 NBA champion
    • 1974 NBA steals leader
    • No. 15 retired by Portland Trail Blazers
  • Bob Verga
    • 2× ABA All-Star (1968, 1970)
    • 1970 All-ABA First Team (1970)
  • LaRue Martin (1972 1st Overall NBA Pick)
  • Rick Adelman

Coach McCloskey became an assistant coach under Jerry West for the Los Angeles Lakers. In his first season as an assistant coach, the Lakers finished with a 53–29 record, reaching the conference finals, but were eliminated by Jack Ramsay and the Portland Trail Blazers, McCloskey’s former team in 4 games (4-0). The Blazers would become the 1977 NBA champions.

The following season, the Lakers finished with a 45–37 record and were defeated in the first round by Lenny Wilkens and the Seattle SuperSonics in 3 games (2-1). In 1979, the Lakers finished with a 47–35 record, facing off against the SuperSonics in the semifinals but were eliminated in 5 games (4-1).

His fellow assistant coach was Stan Albeck.

Notable Players Coached

  • Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar
    • 6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • 2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
    • 6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
    • 19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
    • 10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
    • 5× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
    • 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
    • 6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1970, 1971, 1976–1978, 1984)
    • 1970 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1970 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • 2× NBA scoring champion (1971, 1972)
    • 1976 NBA rebounding leader
    • 4× NBA blocks leader (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980)
    • 35th, 50th, & 75th NBA anniversary team selections
    • No. 33 retired by Milwaukee Bucks
    • No. 33 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Jamaal Wilkes
    • 4× NBA champion (1975, 1980, 1982, 1985)
    • 3× NBA All-Star (1976, 1981, 1983)
    • 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1976, 1977)
    • 1975 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1975 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • No. 52 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Michael Cooper
    • Future 5× NBA champion (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • Future 1987 NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1987)
    • Future 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • Future 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1981, 1983, 1986)
  • Ron Boone
    • 1971 ABA champion
    • 4× ABA All-Star (1971, 1974–1976)
    • ABA All-Rookie First Team (1969)
    • 1974 All-ABA First Team
    • 1975 All-ABA Second Team
    • ABA All-Time Team
  • Jim Price
    • 1975 NBA All-Star
    • 1974 NBA All-Defensive Second Team
    • 1973 NBA All-Rookie First Team
  • Don Chaney
    • 2× NBA champion (1969, 1974)
    • 5× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1972–1975, 1977)
    • Future 1991 NBA Coach of the Year
  • Cazzie Russell
    • NBA champion (1970)
    • NBA All-Star (1972)
    • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1967)
  • Norm Nixon
    • 2× NBA champion (1980, 1982)
    • 2× NBA All-Star (1982, 1985)
    • 1978 NBA All-Rookie First Team
  • Kermit Washington
    • 1980 NBA All-Star
    • 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1980, 1981)
  • Adrian Dantley
    • 6× NBA All-Star (1980–1982, 1984–1986)
    • 2× All-NBA Second Team (1981, 1984)
    • 1984 NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1984)
    • 1977 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1977 NBA All-Rookie Team
    • 2× NBA scoring champion (1981, 1984)
    • No. 4 retired by Utah Jazz
  • Lou Hudson
    • 6× NBA All-Star (1969–1974)
    • 1970 All-NBA Second Team
    • 1967 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • No. 23 retired by Atlanta Hawks

Coach McCloskey became an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers under Bobby “Slick” Leonard for the Indiana Pacers. He only spent a few months there until he became the General Manager of the Detroit Pistons.