Michael Joseph Dunleavy Sr. (born March 21, 1954) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, coach, and former general manager of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. He was most recently the head coach of the Tulane University men's basketball team. Dunleavy is the father of former professional basketball player

Mike Dunleavy Jr. Michael Joseph Dunleavy Jr. (born September 15, 1980) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is the general manager for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college ba ...

Early life

Dunleavy was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His primary education was at Holy Cross. He attended Nazareth Regional High School in Brooklyn, then graduated from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

, where he played under coach

Frank McGuire Frank Joseph McGuire (November 8, 1913 – October 11, 1994) was an American basketball coach. At the collegiate level, he was head coach for three major programs: St. John's, North Carolina, and South Carolina, winning over a hundred games at ...

Playing career

Drafted in the sixth round of the 1976 NBA draft with the 99th overall pick by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

, the 6'3" guard played for them for one full season along with Hall-of-Fame teammate

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

and made the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in a losing effort against the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. Dunleavy then split the following season between Philadelphia and the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

after being traded mid-season. Houston made the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, and this time Dunleavy played a large role for his team in the series, including scoring a game-high 28 points to help lead the Rockets to a Game 4 win, but yet again his team lost, this time to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. Dunleavy remained in Texas after leaving Houston for the 1982–83 season, because he spent that season with the neighboring

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. After two following seasons with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

he retired due to chronic back pain. His best season as a player was with Houston in 1980–81, when he averaged 10.5 points per game and started on a team that played in the NBA Finals. During his retirement, Dunleavy worked in an investment firm. In 1987, he joined the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach. In 1988–89 and 1989–90, while an assistant coach with the Bucks, he helped as a player for two and five games respectively. In 438 games he averaged 8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1976–77 , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 32 , , - , , 11.2 , , .414 , , - , , .756 , , 1.1 , , 1.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , 1977–78 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 4.3 , , .429 , , - , , 1.000 , , 0.3 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , 1977–78 , align="left" ,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 11 , , - , , 9.3 , , .395 , , - , , .688 , , 0.8 , , 2.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , 1978–79 , align="left" ,

, 74 , , - , , 20.1 , , .506 , , - , , .864 , , 1.7 , , 4.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

, 51 , , - , , 20.3 , , .464 , , .150 , , .828 , , 2.0 , , 4.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

, 74 , , - , , 21.7 , , .491 , , .063 , , .839 , , 1.6 , , 3.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 10.5 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 70 , , 15 , , 18.8 , , .458 , , .384 , , .708 , , 1.5 , , 3.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 7.4 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 79 , , 9 , , 20.5 , , .418 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .345* , , .779 , , 1.7 , , 5.5 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 17 , , 12 , , 23.8 , , .551 , , .422 , , .800 , , 1.6 , , 4.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 11.2 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

, 19 , , 19 , , 22.8 , , .474 , , .340 , , .862 , , 1.6 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .500 , , .500 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 8.6 , , .286 , , .222 , , .875 , , 0.4 , , 2.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 3.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 438 , , 55 , , 19.2 , , .467 , , .339 , , .810 , , 1.6 , , 3.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 8.0

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1976–77 , align="left" ,

, 11 , , - , , 6.2 , , .360 , , - , , .800 , , 0.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , 1978–79 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , - , , 10.0 , , .000 , , - , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , - , , 7.5 , , .500 , , .000 , , .833 , , 0.8 , , 2.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

, 20 , , - , , 23.6 , , .454 , , .400 , , .868 , , 2.1 , , 3.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , - , , 22.0 , , .409 , , .000 , , .833 , , 1.0 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 11 , , - , , 15.8 , , .338 , , .267 , , .692 , , 1.2 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 5.5 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" ,

, 15 , , - , , 26.2 , , .457 , , .360 , , .917 , , 2.3 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 67 , , - , , 18.3 , , .428 , , .317 , , .856 , , 1.5 , , 2.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 7.0

Coaching career

He entered his first head coaching job in 1990 as coach of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, replacing

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

. In 1991 his team, led by

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

and

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento King ...

, beat the

in the Western Conference Finals and he led his team to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

against the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

but they lost in five games. In his second season, he led the Lakers to the win in the

McDonald's Open The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's basketball competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association (representing North America) against champion club teams ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in October. Shortly after the tournament, Johnson was diagnosed with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and retired. Without him, the Lakers made the playoffs again but lost in the first round. Dunleavy then joined the

as head coach prior to the 1992–93 season and remained with them until the end of the 1995–96 season, in a dual role as vice-president of basketball operations and head coach. He relinquished his head coaching duties after a mediocre tenure to operate as the general manager, until accepting the job of head coach of the

in 1997. Dunleavy was named

NBA Coach of the Year The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who l ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

while with the Blazers. He remained in Portland until the end of the 2000–01 season, when he was fired. He made the playoffs four times with the team. He joined the Clippers in 2003. Dunleavy led the Clippers to the second round of the playoffs, their first playoff berth since 1997, and to the franchise's first series win since a

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

first-round victory while the team was still playing in Buffalo. The Clippers finished 40–42 in 2006–07, out of the playoffs after a season-ending slump brought on by injury. He also worked for

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

in 2008, calling NBA playoff games. On February 4, 2010, Dunleavy stepped down from his duties as the Clippers' coach. He retained his position as general manager, with Kim Hughes, who had worked as Dunleavy's assistant for seven seasons, becoming interim head coach for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. On March 9, 2010, the Clippers fired Dunleavy as general manager. The Clippers accused Dunleavy of defrauding the team, and he sued the club for money owed on the remainder of his contract. An arbitrator ordered the Clippers pay Dunleavy $13 million in 2011. On March 28, 2016,

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

announced Dunleavy as the coach of the men's basketball team. This marked Dunleavy's first job as a college coach. On March 16, 2019, Tulane announced Dunleavy would not return for the 2019–20 season after finishing 4–27 in his final season.

Personal life

Dunleavy has three sons: Mike Jr., who starred at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and played for six NBA teams from 2002 to 2017;

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

, the former head coach at

Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. History What became ...

; and James, an NBA player agent.

Head coaching record

NBA

, - , align="left" , L.A. Lakers , align="left" , , 82, , 58, , 24, , .707, , align="center" , 2nd in Pacific, , 19, , 12, , 7, , .632 , align="center" , Lost in

, - , align="left" , L.A. Lakers , align="left" , , 82, , 43, , 39, , .524, , align="center" , 6th in Pacific, , 4, , 1, , 3, , .250 , align="center" , Lost in

First round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 28, , 54, , .321, , align="center" , 7th in Central, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 20, , 62, , .244, , align="center" , 6th in Central, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 34, , 48, , .415, , align="center" , 6th in Central, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , , 82, , 25, , 57, , .305, , align="center" , 7th in Central, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , Portland , align="left" , , 82, , 46, , 36, , .561, , align="center" , 4th in Pacific, , 4, , 1, , 3, , .250 , align="center" , Lost in

, - , align="left" , Portland , align="left" , , 50, , 35, , 15, , .700, , align="center" , 1st in Pacific, , 13, , 7, , 6, , .538 , align="center" , Lost in Conf. Finals , - , align="left" , Portland , align="left" , , 82, , 59, , 23, , .720, , align="center" , 2nd in Pacific, , 16, , 10, , 6, , .625 , align="center" , Lost in Conf. Finals , - , align="left" , Portland , align="left" , , 82, , 50, , 32, , .610, , align="center" , 4th in Pacific, , 3, , 0, , 3, , .000 , align="center" , Lost in

, - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 82, , 28, , 54, , .341, , align="center" , 7th in Pacific, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 82, , 37, , 45, , .451, , align="center" , 3rd in Pacific, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 82, , 47, , 35, , .573, , align="center" , 2nd in Pacific, , 12, , 7, , 5, , .583 , align="center" , Lost in Conf. Semifinals , - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 82, , 40, , 42, , .488, , align="center" , 4th in Pacific, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 82, , 23, , 59, , .280, , align="center" , 5th in Pacific, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 82, , 19, , 63, , .231, , align="center" , 4th in Pacific, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , align="left" , , 49, , 21, , 28, , .429, , align="center" , (resigned), , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , — , -class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , , , 1329, , 613, , 716, , .461, , , , 71, , 38, , 33, , .535, ,

College

References

External links

Tulane profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunleavy, Mike Sr. 1954 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Clippers head coaches Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches Milwaukee Bucks executives Milwaukee Bucks head coaches Milwaukee Bucks players NBA broadcasters NBA general managers Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards Portland Trail Blazers head coaches San Antonio Spurs players South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball players Basketball players from Brooklyn Tulane Green Wave men's basketball coaches