Ben Sullivan (born March 19, 1984) is an American

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 ...

coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for 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) ...

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 ...

(NBA). He was previously an assistant coach with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

and 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 ...

of the NBA. A former center at Cal State Northridge and the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

, Sullivan has primarily served as a shooting coach during his NBA coaching career.

Coaching career

Sullivan retired from playing basketball and joined his alma mater

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

as their director of basketball technology before becoming an assistant coach at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adjac ...

, during which he was also an office manager at a construction firm in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

San Antonio Spurs

Sullivan joined the

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 ...

front office in 2012 as a video intern on the recommendation of then-Spurs assistant

Ime Udoka Ime Sunday Udoka ( ; born August 9, 1977) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in the United States, he represented ...

. With the Spurs, he worked his way to a position in player development, where he was tasked with everything from scouting reports to analytics, as well as one-on-one workouts with players. He also worked under Spurs assistant Chip Engelland, considered to be one of the top shooting coaches in the NBA.

Atlanta Hawks

Sullivan was named an assistant coach on former Spurs assistant

Mike Budenholzer Michael Vincent Budenholzer (born August 6, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Budenholzer previously head coached the M ...

's coaching staff for the

on August 20, 2014.

Milwaukee Bucks

Sullivan was one of a number of assistants who joined Budenholzer when the latter was hired as head coach of the

before the

2018–19 NBA season The 2018–19 NBA season was the 73rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 16, 2018, and ended on April 10, 2019. The 2019 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2019, at Spectrum Center ...

. While in Milwaukee, Sullivan has worked with

NBA Most Valuable Player The NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Since the 2022–23 season, winners receive the Michael Jor ...

Giannis Antetokounmpo Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo ( Adetokunbo; born December 6, 1994) is a Nigerian-Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His size, speed, and strength have earned him the nick ...

in developing his shooting ability, which has been considered as the main weakness in the Bucks star's basketball game. Sullivan won his first

NBA championship 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 ...

when the Bucks defeated the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

four games to two in the

2021 NBA Finals The 2021 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2020–21 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Eastern Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks de ...

Boston Celtics

Before the

2021–22 NBA season The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 19, 2021, and ended on April 10, 2022. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, the NBA returned to its usual O ...

, Sullivan was hired as an assistant coach by 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), ...

Houston Rockets

On July 3, 2023, Sullivan was hired by the

as an assistant coach.

References

External links

Portland Pilots player profile

Portland Pilots coach profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Ben 1984 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Basketball coaches from Massachusetts Basketball coaches from Oregon Basketball players from Boston Basketball players from Portland, Oregon Boston Celtics assistant coaches Centers (basketball) Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketball players Houston Rockets assistant coaches Lewis & Clark Pioneers men's basketball coaches Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches Portland Pilots men's basketball coaches Portland Pilots men's basketball players Sportspeople from Lake Oswego, Oregon USC Heidelberg players