Dwane Lyndon Casey (born April 17, 1957) is an American retired basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the

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

before transitioning to a front office position with the team. He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached NCAA basketball for over a decade before moving on to the NBA. He was previously the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

, with whom he won the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 2018.

Early years

Dwane Lyndon Casey was born on April 17, 1957, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. However, his family moved to Morganfield, Kentucky when he was three years old. Casey graduated from Union County High School in 1975. Casey was a top recruit coming out of high school. He made the decision to commit to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. During the 1977–78 Wildcats season, Casey helped guide the team to an NCAA Tournament Championship. He served as team captain during his senior year. During the summers, Casey worked several odd jobs to support himself, including

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and tobacco farming. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

in 1979, also receiving Kentucky's All-Academic Award that same year.NBA.com Dwane Casey
, NBA.com

Coaching career

Early career

Casey's coaching experience went back to his first coaching job at the age of 13 when Morganfield Baseball Commissioner Earl McKendree allowed the young Casey to coach a Little League team with kids just three years younger than him. He began his college coaching career in 1979 due to a suggestion made by his coach Joe B. Hall. Casey spent a season with Hall as an assistant coach at Kentucky. The next season, Casey made the move to Western Kentucky, where he spent the next five seasons. Casey later returned to Kentucky in 1985 where he would take the role of an assistant coach and top recruiter. In late March 1988 while still serving as an assistant coach at Kentucky, Emery Worldwide employees discovered $1,000 in cash in an envelope that was accidentally opened. The envelope was addressed to Claud Mills, the father of recruit Chris Mills, and the sender was identified as Casey. The University of Kentucky said that the evidence collected during the investigation was inconclusive, and did not prove that Casey sent the money. York, Michael.
Kentucky Loves Its Basketball, but Not at Any Price
''The Washington Post'', December 11, 1988. The scandal resulted in Casey's resignation, and Casey was then placed on probation for 5 years by the NCAA. The NCAA later rescinded the penalty after it was shown that Casey wasn't involved in sending the package. Casey also settled outside of court in a defamation suit against Emery Worldwide. The case was originally for $6.9 million.

Overseas

After his resignation from Kentucky, Casey accepted a head coaching job in the Japanese Basketball League. During his time there, Casey coached for Sekisui Chemical and Isuzu Motors Lynx that his teammate Jack Givens played for. While in Japan, Casey did coaching work for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

alongside longtime friend Mototaka Kohama and veteran coach Pete Newell. During the summers, Casey continued to work with the Japanese national team. In the summer of 1998 the team appeared in the FIBA World Championship basketball tournament, which would be the team's first appearance there in over 30 years.

Return to the NBA

Casey left the Japanese Basketball League in 1994 after receiving an assistant coaching position for the Seattle SuperSonics. During his tenure in Seattle, the team won four division titles. At the beginning of the 2005–06 NBA season, Casey landed his first job as head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves, replacing Kevin McHale. Casey's overall record with the team was 53–69, and he was fired on January 23, 2007, after only a season and a half with the Timberwolves. At the time of his firing, the Timberwolves were 20–20, he was replaced by assistant coach Randy Wittman, who went 12–30 for the rest of the season. During the 2008–09 NBA season, Casey served as an assistant coach for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. During the

2009–10 NBA season The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1,230-game regular season (82 games for each of the 30 teams) began on October 27, 2009, and ended on April 14, 2010. The season ended with the Los Ang ...

, the Mavericks won a division title. In 2011, the Mavericks defeated the

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

in the 2011 NBA Finals and won their first

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LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

of the Heat would later admit that Casey's defensive schemes for Dallas helped make him improve his game even further after that series.

Toronto Raptors

In early June 2011, the

decided not to pick up the option on Jay Triano's contract. Casey was named the new Raptors head coach on June 21 and would run through until the 2013–14 season. Casey's first two seasons with the Raptors involved little to no success. The team exceeded expectations in the first season and underachieved in the second. The team failed to make the playoffs both seasons. During his third season with the team, it managed to set a new team record for most wins in a season, an Atlantic Division Championship, and its first playoff appearance in six years. On May 6, 2014, a day after being eliminated from the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, Casey and the Raptors agreed to a three-year contract extension. On November 1, 2015, Casey surpassed Sam Mitchell's franchise record for wins, getting his 157th against

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 ...

with the score of 106–87. On March 18, 2016, Casey became the first Raptors head coach to reach 200 wins with the franchise in a 101–94 win over the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, and twelve days later, in a 105–97 win over the Atlanta Hawks, he coached the Raptors to its first 50-win season in franchise history. On May 1, 2016, Casey coached the Raptors to their first Game 7 victory in franchise history with an 89–84 win over the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs and on May 15, he coached the Raptors to their first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals in franchise history with a 116–89 victory over the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs, where they fell to the eventual NBA champions

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in six games. On June 7, he agreed with the Raptors to a contract extension. On January 28, 2018, Casey became the first coach in Raptors history to be selected for the

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

. On February 11, 2018, he celebrated his 300th win as a coach for the Raptors. Casey's Raptors set franchise records for wins and points in the regular season as they finished first in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards in six games and were then swept in four games by the

led by

. Casey's conservative coaching structure and system was credited with developing the Raptors' younger players, however it did not fare well in the playoffs against the Tyronn Lue-coached Cavaliers who were flexible rather than being consistent. On May 11, Casey was fired as the Raptors' head coach, shortly after being named as NBCA Coach of the Year. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year at the 2018 NBA Awards.

Detroit Pistons

On June 11, 2018, Casey was named the head coach for the

, agreeing to a five-year deal. On November 14, 2018, Casey returned to Scotiabank Arena for the first time since being fired by the Toronto Raptors, coaching the Pistons to a 106–104 win over his former team. In the playoffs, the Pistons were swept in the first round by the

, while Casey's former team, Raptors, won the NBA championship against the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. On May 12, 2021, the Pistons signed Casey to a contract extension through the 2024 season. On April 10, 2023, Casey stepped down as the head coach following the conclusion of 2022–23 season. During five seasons as coach for the Pistons, he led the team to a regular season record of 121–262 (.316). He transitioned to the Pistons' front office.

Head coaching record

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Personal life

Casey and his family have a home in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. During the summers, Casey likes to travel to Japan to help with basketball camps and coaching clinics.

References

External links

NBA.com profile

at Basketball-Reference

at BBH {{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Dwane 1957 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Japan American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players from Kentucky Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Detroit Pistons head coaches Kentucky Democrats Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Minnesota Timberwolves head coaches People from Morganfield, Kentucky Seattle SuperSonics assistant coaches Toronto Raptors head coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen