Gordon Walter Herbert (born February 16, 1959) is a Canadian and Finnish 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 ...

coach and former player. Herbert is currently serving as the head coach of Canada national team and Bayern Munich in the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. He was previously named the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Germany national team in 2021 and guided them to a bronze medal at the

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, and to the gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Playing career

Born and raised in

Penticton Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley of the British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan Lake, Okanagan and Skaha Lake, Skaha lakes. In the 2021 Canadian Census, its population was 36,885, while its Census geographic un ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Herbert attended two-year North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, and transferred to the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, where he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

under head coach Don Monson. Prior to his senior season in he injured his left wrist and was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

; the Vandals were and went to the NCAA tournament as Big Sky champions. As a fifth-year senior in 1981–82, Herbert started at forward and Idaho won its first sixteen games, went in the regular season, and were sixth in the AP and UPI They advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, and finished with the best record in school history While undefeated at 15–0, an article on the team appeared in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. Twice during the regular season, Herbert was the Big Sky player of the week, and was second team all-conference. After college, he moved to

Hyvinkää Hyvinkää (; , ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Hyvinkää is situated in the northern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Hyvinkää is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in ...

, Finland, in 1982, and joined Hyvinkään Tahko. He also represented Turun NMKY, Forssan Koripojat, Helsingin NMKY and

Korihait Korihait () is a Finnish basketball team from Uusikaupunki. It was formed as Uudenkaupungin Urheilijat, shortly UU, in 1898 and has won one Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top ...

. In total, Herbert played professionally in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

for 12 years with various teams. His club playing career ended in 1994, when he started coaching.

International career

Herbert also played with the senior Canadian national team at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, where they finished just out of medal position in fourth place. He also played with Canada at the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

Coaching career

After ending his professional playing career in

, Herbert stayed in the country and started his coaching career in 1994 with Finnish

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

team

Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; , ) is a list of towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland regions of Finland, region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a pop ...

, before moving to

Espoon Honka 237px, Petteri Koponen with Espoon Honka in 2007 Espoon Honka, also known as Honka Playboys, was a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland and it played in Korisliiga. The club was dissolved in 2011 due to financial difficulties. History Espoon ...

in 1996. Herbert has coached many teams, including Frankfurt Skyliners, with which he won the German League title in 2004. He led the Skyliners to their 3rd German League finals appearance, against the league's first place

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

, after beating other top-rated German teams, such as

Alba Berlin Alba Berlin is a professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Uber Arena and c ...

, in the playoffs. He also coached French teams

Paris 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 ...

and Pau Orthez, with which he won the French Cup in the 2006–07 season. On July 7, 2007, he officially became the

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

of the Greek club

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

. Herbert has also been an assistant coach of 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 ...

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). In the 2015–16 season, Herbert won the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

with the Skyliners, after his team defeated

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

in the Final. Herbert was also named the German Basketball Bundesliga Coach of the Year that season. Herbert's contract with the Skyliners ended in May 2020. On July 2, 2020, he signed with Avtodor of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. He was sacked in March 2021. In September 2021, he was named head coach of the Germany national team. He guided the German team to a bronze medal at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

and to the gold medal in the 2023 World Cup. On 17 December 2023, Herbert was named the Coach of the Year in Germany. On 11 January 2024, Herbert was named the Coach of the Year also in Finland, by the Finnish sports journalists. On 16 May 2024, it was reported that Herbert will leave the Germany national team after the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. On 25 July 2024, it was announced that Herbert would start as the head coach of Bayern Munich in the

and the

after the

. Canada Basketball selected Herbert to be the head coach of its men's national team on 1 May, 2025, filling the vacancy that was left by Jordi Fernandez. Herbert will lead the team to the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup and the 2027 FIBA World Cup in the lead-up to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where the Canadians aim to win their first Olympic medal in men's basketball since 1936.

Coaching titles

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(2021–2024): **

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Skyliners Frankfurt (2001–04, 2010–11, 2013–2020): **

: 2003–04 **

: 2015–16 * Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez (2006–07): ** French Cup: 2006–07 *

(1996–99, 2009–10): **

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

: 2009

Personal life

Born in Canada, Herbert acquired Finnish citizenship via naturalization in the late 1980s. He is a fluent Finnish speaker. His son Daniel Herbert is also a basketball coach In September 2023, Herbert said in an interview that he wishes, someday in the future, to end his coaching career in Finnish

. Herbert owns a house in

and a summer house in Pyhämaa, and visits there frequently.Maailmanmestarin koti on Uudessakaupungissa
ukilife.fi, 9 January 2024

References

External links